State Announces
$9.5 Million Pilot Program for Wireless Classrooms
Applications Due by 5 p.m. October 8th
Gongwer News Service, August 30, 2002
Beginning to implement House Speaker
Rick Johnson's goal of all Michigan pupils having access to
wireless laptop computers in their classrooms, he and other
top state officials announced Friday the availability of up to
$9.5 million in grants for five school districts.
The grants will be determined by the Department of Education
in collaboration with the Michigan Virtual University. David
Spencer, president of the virtual university, said the grants
would be awarded based on a district's plan to involve the
business and higher education communities in securing support
and geographic diversity (one program is automatically slated
for an Upper Peninsula district). Ready cash from the
district itself to support their proposed program would not be
one of the criteria, he said. The two agencies also will
administer the program.
Mr. Johnson (R-LeRoy) has been pushing for greater adoption of
wireless technology in schools. It is a cheaper alternative
for technology that avoids problems in older school buildings
that lack high-speed phone lines for relatively smooth
Internet activity and insufficient electric outlets.
Wireless also offers mobility and avoids a ganglion of cords
and wires in classrooms.
"The ability
to bring the Internet into the classroom for students is
really the next step for technology," he said at a
presentation at the virtual university's headquarters. "It's
starting to blossom. What we need to do is get the ball
rolling here in Michigan."
In addition to the up to $2 million per school district that
will be awarded to five districts, another 10 districts with
existing programs will be granted up to $100,000 each, Mr.
Spencer said. By including these districts, officials said
they hope to learn from their experiences and reward them for
their activity so far.
Funding for the program comes from a $3.5 million
appropriation in the 2002-03 school aid budget and $6 million
in federal funds. Mr. Spencer said the money should service
between 3,000 to 5,000 pupils, depending on how the money is
used. And districts could target the money to a particular
grade level in all of its buildings, to one building in
particular or however it sees fit.
Officials have not determined how they will pay to spread the
program statewide, but it is a topic of frequent discussion,
Mr. Spencer said. There were 1.69 million pupils in the
state in 2000 among 554 school districts, according to the
Standard and Poor's School Evaluation Services Web site, which
the state pays to analyze its education statistics. That
would likely put the cost of a statewide program in the low
billions of dollars (based on the cost and size of this
program) although that would drop as technology costs continue
their decline.
"Yes, it will be a tremendous cost," Mr. Spencer said.
But Mr. Johnson compared the project to the Mackinac Bridge in
terms of its scope and ultimate importance. "If you sit back
and worry about how you're going to finance things, you'll
never move it forward," he said. "If you worry about the
money, you'll never get to the other side of the continent."
Said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Watkins:
"We can't afford not to provide these opportunities for
children."
One example of the use of wireless technology is in the
Chelsea schools where the district's alternative education
pupils use the equipment. Assistant Superintendent Iva
Corbett said the $100,000 program engages pupils who have been
turned off by traditional education methods. When the
teacher gets to a point in his or her lesson that calls for
use of the Internet, the computers are connected to the Web
for use, Ms. Corbett said.
"When the kids can reach the goals in their own way, they take
more ownership," she said.
Districts can apply online. Applications are due by
5 p.m. October 8 with winners announced in October.
Officials hope to have all of the pilot projects in operation
by the start of schools' second semesters, which typically
begin in mid-January.
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