Wisconsin uses Microsoft settlement funds to buy iPads for schools
The capital of Wisconsin is buying 600 iPads this spring and plans to buy another 800 this fall, all paid for using funds from the state's settlement with Microsoft related to consumer lawsuits claiming the company overcharged customers for its software.
Bill Smojver, Madison's director of technical services for the school district, told the Wisconsin State Journal that the tablets are cheaper, more portable and easier to use than conventional computers.
Smojver added that the new iPads will enable students to wirelessly share their work and enable schools to replace textbooks with digital apps or ebooks, referring to Apple's recent announcement related to iBooks 2, iBooks Author and digital textbooks as a "significant development."
District deputy superintendent Sue Abplanalp noted that Madison administrators had been impressed by the results of an iPad trial by Chicago Public Schools, which found the tablets were successful in keeping students more engaged in the classroom.
Wisconsin's iPads are being paid for through $3.4 million of the nearly $80 million settlement Microsoft agreed to pay the state to settle claims that it has systematically cheated consumers into paying too much for its software.
Schools can spend the money on any type of technology, ranging from iPads to conventional laptops to projectors and other upgrades. With educational discounts, the Madison district is paying $479 for each iPad.
While there's no public records as to what each school district in the state is buying, the report cited technology consultant Naomi Harm as noting that her firm has worked with over 50 Wisconsin school districts to implement iPad-based teaching efforts.
Microsoft faced antitrust actions in a 1998 suit brought by the US Department of Justice and 19 states for using its monopoly market position to harm competition (specifically related to its efforts to destroy Netscape and the open web, although Sun's Java, Apple's QuickTime and other technologies were used as additional evidence to push the case.)
A separate series of private class action lawsuits accused Microsoft of cheating end users with overpriced software. The company worked to win dismissals of the claims in a number of states, but ended up paying settlements in at least 17 states, although efforts to actually obtain the funds were complicated by filing rules.
Comments
Ps. Normally, i try to avoid cliches "like the plague!"
I think children that are misbehaving (such as not paying attention in class) should not be rewarded by giving them fancy tablets. That's what "more engaged" means right? It means they're not paying attention. Well it's just basic manners to pay attention to the teacher, whether you're interested in what he's saying or not.
The capital of Wisconsin is buying 600 iPads this spring and plans to buy another 800 this fall, all paid for using funds from the state's settlement with Microsoft related to consumer lawsuits claiming the company overcharged customers for its software. .
This just made my day! Talk about pouring salt in a wound. No wonder Gates continues to distance himself from majorcrap.
LMFAO! I literally belted out a huge, roaring laugh upon reading that headline.
Well, they'd be crazy to put that settlement money back into Microsoft's pockets.
"Chicago Public Schools [...] found the tablets were successful in keeping students more engaged in the classroom. "
I think children that are misbehaving (such as not paying attention in class) should not be rewarded by giving them fancy tablets. That's what "more engaged" means right? It means they're not paying attention. Well it's just basic manners to pay attention to the teacher, whether you're interested in what he's saying or not.
Engaged doesn't mean the same thing as paying attention or not misbehaving.
Too often schools are treated like and viewed as joyless places where facts are pounded into a kids head. If you can get a child to be interested in and maybe enjoy learning they get much more out of it.
A child can be paying attention, not misbehaving and still not be engaged.
Education shouldn't be viewed the same as "getting the trains to run on time".
How ironic and fabulous!
'Course y'all realize that MS is payin' those fines with funds they collect from OEMs for each Android handset sold...
Let's see $10 per Android Handset x 48 == $480 == 1 MS fine Chit == 1 iPad
So every 48 Droid phones pays for an iPad for a Wisconsin High Schooler.
Thank you Android OEMs, Thank You Google, Thank You Microsoft, Thank You Wisconsin, Thank You Apple!
The capital of Wisconsin is buying 600 iPads this spring and plans to buy another 800 this fall, all paid for using funds from the state's settlement with Microsoft related to consumer lawsuits claiming the company overcharged customers for its software.
Phase 2 of Wisconsin Master Plan:
Sue Apple for overcharging for iPads, use funds to buy Jet Packs to ease school bus costs...
Besides, I thought the capital of Wisconsin was "W"...?
Engaged doesn't mean the same thing as paying attention or not misbehaving.
Too often schools are treated like and viewed as joyless places where facts are pounded into a kids head. If you can get a child to be interested in and maybe enjoy learning they get much more out of it.
A child can be paying attention, not misbehaving and still not be engaged.
Education shouldn't be viewed the same as "getting the trains to run on time".
Well said. It's not enough any more to insist that kids "should" act or think a certain way in the classroom. They're growing up in a ubiquitously connected, digital world. Expecting them to learn in exactly the way kids in the early part of the 20th century learned makes no sense.
The pedagogical model as it is practiced in most US public schools literally derives from industrial processes, and originally was intended to provide trained workers for America's industrial economy. It's really not surprising that rote, top-down training isn't grabbing this generation's attention, and it isn't necessary to imagine it's because they're all ADD XBox addled idiots to see why.
A separate series of private lass action lawsuits accused Microsoft of cheating end users with overpriced software.
I can see the ads now, 15 episodes featuring a bunch of young female lawyers in leotards yelling at microsoft execs about cheating on their ex wives in private produced on windows 7 (sequences shortened for tv)
Again.
A separate series of private lass action lawsuits accused Microsoft of cheating end users with overpriced software.
I can see the ads now, 15 episodes featuring a bunch of young female lawyers in leotards yelling at microsoft execs about cheating on their ex wives in private produced on windows 7 (sequences shortened for tv)
MisTypeAhead either dropped a "c" or added an "l"... your choice!