Sgt Grit Marine Forums

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007704060333

"We have come to the conclusion that the crisis Michigan faces is not a shortage of revenue, but an excess of idiocy. Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan.

No cost estimate was attached to their hare-brained idea to "invest" in education. Details, we are promised, will follow.

The Democrats, led by their increasingly erratic speaker Andy Dillon of Redford Township, also pledge $100 million to make better downtowns.

Their plan goes beyond cluelessness. Democrats are either entirely indifferent to the idea that extreme hard times demand extreme belt tightening, or they are bone stupid. We lean toward the latter".

"We have come to the conclusion that the crisis Michigan faces is not a shortage of revenue, but an excess of idiocy. Facing a budget deficit that has passed the $1 billion mark, House Democrats Thursday offered a spending plan that would buy a MP3 player or iPod for every school child in Michigan.

No cost estimate was attached to their hare-brained idea to "invest" in education. Details, we are promised, will follow.

The Democrats, led by their increasingly erratic speaker Andy Dillon of Redford Township, also pledge $100 million to make better downtowns.

Their plan goes beyond cluelessness. Democrats are either entirely indifferent to the idea that extreme hard times demand extreme belt tightening, or they are bone stupid. We lean toward the latter".

 

Hahaha, I don't even know how to respond to that. Its exactly what this country needs, more people to tune out. Hurrah for media drones!

The goal was to provide a platform for the kids to listen to recorded info, lectures, etc provided by the teachers.

 

The implementation was very very poorly thought out. No need for ipods, a simple MP3 player from an off brand would have worked, at a tiny fraction of the cost. Controls can be built in to lock out unauthorized recordings, so they can only use them for schoolwork. 

Please, Michigan has much more to worry about then this. First off, countless universities have done this over the past 5 years to great success. They load the ipods up with videos, lectures, and lessons all tied to the curriculum. It saves on having to buy books and students are more conductive to learning through technology anyway. Your attempt to turn this into a political debate is the only thing I see as "hair brained".

Not "conductive" but "conducive".  Don't forget that there 3rd grade spellin' bee.  I'm award winning.

Gunny K

Better yet,"receptive!"  As in, "the students are more receptive to learning via tech..."

Conductive

Conducive

Receptive

Reproductive - Yeah, that's it!  Screwing all day and night!  That's what the kids want!!!

I hate to butt in, but I'm a student studying secondary education at Eastern Michigan University. Today, actually, in my Technology in Education class we each played around with a personal PDA. That's right, MI spent money to buy a classroom set of PDA's for us future teachers to "learn from".Our teacher tried to pass it off as an educational tool, but I fail to see it.

To me, iPods are for entertainment....you use them on your way to and from class. PDA's are for adults with busy schedules who want everything in one place. By placing such tools in the classroom you eliminate reading. And believe me, you don't have to be too bright to realize how important reading is to our school children. 

Aside from all that, the economic status of MI sucks. Education is important, incredibly so, but giving every kid an iPod will not help them to earn money for the state. Gov. Jennifer Granholm is not a large supporter of education (so far in her term) but what's the point in going to school, graduating high school and college if there are no jobs for you to graduate for?