Article 5 02/14/10

Study Bus

A high school in Tucson Arizona has made technology in society more available! In 2005, Empire High School became a “digital school” by supplying lap tops to students instead of text books. In an effort to increase productivity outside of the classroom, the school district added Wi-Fi access to school busses. With this new idea, students are given the opportunity to turn their bus ride into continued, productive learning time from the classroom. Back when I was in grade school, I was on the bus for just less than an hour, this opportunity could potentially have freed up my evenings for more time spent with friends and families. Sure, some students will take this opportunity to jump online to play games, or chat with friends, or even update their cyber page.
Kids in high school used to steal pens and pencils on the bus. Now they will be able to steal lap tops! But, maybe that won't be an issue because every student at the high school is given a computer, which will eliminate the need to steal a lap top for those who otherwise wouldn’t have one.
With this concept put into place, officials of the study say that with the students occupied during their ride home, there has been less conflict, and lets face it, students have always said that if they would have something to do, they probably wouldn’t have gotten into trouble in the first place. This idea will solve many problems with just one stone. But is this concept just for digital school?
I believe this concept will take off even if the elementary, middle, or high school is not considered a digital school. In today’s world, we all know kids are getting more technology devices at younger ages, and probably the most popular device other than a cell phone is the ipod touch. This device is also capable of connecting to a Wi-Fi server, to also keep students occupied during their ride. Along with the ipod, now the newer and bigger version the ipad can also be a great tool to help productivity, as well as reduce conflict on the school bus. And if this works with school busses, hopefully soon a small and less expensive model will come out for our cars! This technology could dramatically impact our society in a positive way!

Original Site:
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-02/wi-fi-enabled-school-bus-makes-all-work-and-less-play

Supporting Sites:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/education/12bus.html?hp

http://www.autonetmobile.com/about/