An iPod for Every Michigan Student?

Michigan lawmakers are proposing $38 million dollars that would provide iPods or MP3 players for all of the state's public school students to use as learning tools (reported April 6, 2007 in the Detroit Free Press). The Michigan Technology News reports:

Rep. Matt Gillard (D-Alpena) said the state needs to redesign its education environment and instead of kids checking their iPods at the door they should be incorporated in the learning process. He said using more individualized learning programs and doing more professional development for teachers is part of that plan.

With a $1 billion state deficit, many taxpayers are not happy with the proposal. The editorial, An iPod for every kid? Are They !#$!ing Idiots?, in The Detroit News demonstrates an unwillingness to fund such a project. The writer says purchasing iPods for students would be "wasting money on early Christmas presents for Michigan kids."

While iPods are certainly useful in education, are they the best learning tool for the money? How about Palm or Pocket PC computers with keyboards? They can play MP3s and run thousands of different programs, access the Internet, and cost about the same as some iPods. Michigan's proposal doesn't specifically say it would use iPods. Other MP3 players have more features, but they don't sync as effortlessly as iPods + iTunes. The new Sansa Connect MP3 player has built-in Wi-Fi and can be used to surf the Mobile Web--something you can't do on an iPod. What is nice about iPods is that they are easy to operate and won't take much technical expertise to incorporate into classrooms.

Details of the Michigan proposal are scarce so it's unknown what device or exactly which students would get them. The details probably don't matter as it seems unlikely the proposal will pass. But, it is refreshing to hear when lawmakers are considering providing students with new learning tools and teachers with professional development.

Update: The Detroit Free Press did not accurately report what was proposed. Anne Campbell adds some important information in her comment to this post:

Appropriates $38,000,000 for 21st Century Learning Environments. DOE shall work with districts, intermediate districts, business and industry leaders and innovative education organizations to create a statewide initiative with new learning environments to create academic content and knowledge in digital forms. Funds shall be used to provide professional development, create a statewide content repository, coordinate efforts with other programs, and assist districts in obtaining innovative content creation and distribution tools.

Comments

[Anonymous]

I've been thinking about this for the last two days. It's not that I don't like Ipods, its that I can do so much more with handhelds.

I don't think people separate podcasting and Ipods. I don't think they understand that podcasts are created independent of a listening device and can be listened to on other devices.

Dale Ehrhart

[Tony Vincent]

And there's more about this in the news. The Detroit Free Press has another story, http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070411/NEWS06/704110305/0/COL04" REL="nofollow">Lawmakers Pushing iPods Flew on Apple's Dime.

[Anne Campbell]

Hi Tony!

Your headline, although based on information from the two Detroit newspapers, is somewhat misleading. Below is a clarification from Bruce Umpstead, Director, MDE Office of Educational Technology and Data Coordination:

Educational Technology Colleagues,

Last week the State House of Representatives reported out its 2008 budget that included “$38,000,000 for 21st Century Learning Environments.” Unfortunately, the press was quick to report this as an “iPod in every pot” program, which it is not.

I wanted to provide you with the description of the appropriation
provide by the House Fiscal Agency, so you can speak knowledgeably
about the proposed initiative:

Appropriates $38,000,000 for 21st Century Learning Environments. DOE
shall work with districts, intermediate districts, business and industry leaders and innovative education organizations to create a
statewide initiative with new learning environments to create
academic content and knowledge in digital forms. Funds shall be used
to provide professional development, create a statewide content repository, coordinate efforts with other programs, and assist districts in obtaining innovative content creation
and distribution tools.

As you can read, the “21st Century Learning Environments” initiative
is much broader in scope than a technology device purchase program,
and it leads with teacher professional development, resource sharing, and collaboration.

Here is a link to an interview with Rep. Timothy Melton, chairperson
on the House’s Education Policy Committee, explaining the
legislature’s thought behind this appropriation:
http://www.wjr.com/Article.asp?id=383670&spid=6525

While the State Legislature is a long way from settling on a budget,
casting significant doubt that this new initiative will even be
funded, we can be assured of two things:
1. The House of Representatives is a full supporter of educational
technology and its use to improve instruction.
2. The Michigan Department of Education will continue to engage the field in determining the best way to achieve improved student outcomes.

If you put these two assurances together, along with $38 million in
educational technology funding, you can believe that we will do our
best to craft a winning program for creating “21st Century Learning
Environments” in every Michigan school.
If you would like to share your opinions on my comments, please email
me.

Bruce Umpstead
Director, Office of Educational Technology and Data Coordination
Michigan Department of Education

As you can see, the scope of this proposal is much broader than just an iPod for every student. There is always another side to the story :-)

[Tony Vincent]

Another news story: http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/04/13/no.ipods.for.mi.students/" REL="nofollow">No iPods for MI Students.

"Melton [Chairman of the House Education Policy Committee] stated that most of the proposed funding would go toward teacher development on ways to make technology as much of the classroom environment as a chalkboard."

That sounds like a really good way to spend money to me. It's a shame the proposal got so much negative attention for its perception of supplying iPods to students.