Government program puts tablets, netbooks in hands of 35,000 kids

Wednesday, the FCC announced the 20 E-rate schools that will be included in the next round of "Learning on the Go" pilot programs, where public schools test how mobile wireless devices such as tablets and notebooks with mobile broadband can be employed inside and outside the classroom.

A large part of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan is dedicated to using improved broadband connectivity to improve American education, updating the Industrial Age public school system to one suited for the Information Age. Since technology has already moved into the wireless age, the Commission began testing "Learning On-the-Go" situations last year, exploring how the E-rate program can help schools and libraries offer off-premises wireless access to the Internet. 

The schools participating in this pilot program:

• Aurora Public Schools/APS Online (Aurora, CO)
• Boy's Latin of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
• New Rochelle City Schools (New Rochelle, NY)
• Clay Hill Elementary School (Jacksonville, FL)
• Foxfire Center for Student Success (Zanesville, OH)
• Greater Southern Tier Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (Watkins Glen, NY)
• Katy Independent School District (Katy, TX)
• Michigan Technical Academy (Redford, MI)
• Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors, Inc. (Butler, OH)
• Orleans Parish School Board/Mary Bethune Elementary School (New Orleans, LA)
• Piedmont City School District (Piedmont, AL)
• Riverside Unified School District (Riverside, CA)
• Roy Municipal Schools (Roy, NM)
• Sioux City Community School District (Sioux City, IA) 
• Southern Tier Library System (Painted Post, NY)
• Summit Academy Community School for Alternative Learners (Canton, OH)
• Westwood Community Schools/Cyber High School (Dearborn Heights, MI)

These programs will each test different technologies for their efficacy in the learning environment, including netbooks and notebooks with mobile wireless cards, handheld mobile devices like tablets/smartphones, and virtual/online schools. The pilots will include a combined total of 35,000 students.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski pointed out that the commission set $10 million aside for this program and managed to come in at more than a million dollars under budget.

"We are being careful to make sure we are funding only a limited number of projects, so we can effectively monitor and evaluate them to determine whether and how off-premises wireless services should be eligible for continued E-rate support," Genachowski said on Wednesday.

It should be noted, however, that even though the FCC has repeatedly highlighted the importance of electronic textbooks and eBooks, none of the programs will be testing dedicated e-readers, and instead will focus on multi-function tablets or PCs.

In 2009, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Syracuse University
ran pilot programs with the Amazon Kindle as a replacement for textbooks, and both institutions determined the devices to be inadequate due to their limited feature sets and recurrent accessibility issues.