Georgia senator wants to replace schoolbooks with iPads

By Jake Zarobsky February 8, 2011 12:02 am EST Comments

Somebody in Georgia has brains. Or at Apple. Either way, the kids in Georgia public schools are going to benefit from this joint venture between Apple Inc. and the legislative branch of Georgia looking to improve the education system.

â€œLast week we met with Apple Computers, and they have a really promising program where they come in and their recommending to middle schools â€“ for $500 per child per year, they will furnish every child with an iPad, wi-fi the system, provide all the books on the system, all the upgrades, all the teacher training â€“ and the results theyâ€™re getting from these kids is phenomenal.â€

-Tommie Williams, Georgia State Senator

It looks like Apple is making some of the state senators in Georgia very happy. Apple is willing to furnish every student in the state with an iPad, as well as teacher training, Wi-Fi, and even the textbooks. This is unsurprisingÂ since the top education publisher, Pearson (Maker of the popular PowerSchool System that was bought from Apple), is porting all of its most popular books right to the iPad platform.

Williams then added that the state pays over $40,000,000 dollars a year in books, some of them so outdated that they don’t even have references or educate students about 9/11. This is what could provide the US the better technology it needs in order to combat increased competition in the Education world.

So far, it looks like Georgia is looking for money in the state budget to start the process. Is it just me but what happens when every state decides to switch to digital textbooks and we’re left over with all that paper.

Via AppleInsider via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Keith

@ AnonyMouse: shut up

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AnonyMouse

p.s. why not cheaper for the ipads. If they are not getting the ipad 2s then dont you think it should be cheaper than 500 bucks a kid? I can see if it was the ipad 2, but this seems like a last ditch effort to sell a lot of ipads before they become obsolete (which compared to the competition they already are). Afterall, whats better than selling a ton of outdated tech at retail cost right before launch of a new product?

Jeffro

How do you know that they won't wind up being the latest iPad?

She doesn't. She just hates Apple and bashes anything and everything they do. If Apple gave everybody free money, she'd somehow complain about that.

Its not the ipad 2 because the ipads are already being distributed for testing and use. The iPad2 isnt even out yet for them to do that with.

Its a good idea, but the truth is that apple is going to be making bank on this. There are better options that function in similar methods and cost less per kid. 500 bucks a kid? Apple is not really giving them much of a cost cut are they? lol, if I was a conspiracy theorist i would make the assumption here that apple is just trying to start brainwashing new consumers at a young age lol. I used to use my android phones for text books all the time. Before I got my degrees I used to read all my books on the phone when I didnt have my laptop with me. There are many schools who give students laptops, or other mobile devices, to use to learn with. This is nothing new, but because its about apple they will hype it up like they were the first.

I can hear the old people now. "When I was your age, we had to walk six miles to school. It was uphill both ways. And we had to carry books the whole way, too. We didn't didn't have those fancy computin' machines with the touchin' screens."

Tyger

Every one in rutherford county in NC middle and high gets MACBOOKS

Jamie

Sweet, I'm still waiting on Apple to make deals with the Big textbook publishers, so I don't have to buy those damn heavy textbooks anymore. I read they were making a deal with McGraw-Hill before the iPad was coming out, but I havent heard anything since then! come on Apple! think of the revenue!