Issac Bailey | Horry County Schools’ iPads initiative wasting taxpayer dollars

First, a reminder:

On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Christ Community Church in Conway, I’ll be co-hosting a town hall discussion titled, “When race isn’t about racism — but still potentially dangerous.”

It will not be the typical race discussion. It won’t involve mindless debates about politics — or debates about such issues at all.

It won’t be an attempt to solve all of our problems. But during a period in which we have to deal with sensitive events, such as the upcoming Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Bikefest and police-community relationships, being able to see this issue with fresh eyes is vital.

A few things you will be introduced to: What under-reported brain research tells us about kids growing up in deep poverty, how we can intervene, what that means for student-teacher interactions, and how race colors it all even when we don’t intend for it to.

You’ll also find out why the brilliance of our brain can be a major impediment heel during stressful interactions.

See you in Conway Saturday, or via a live stream at MyrtleBeachOnline.com.

Now, on to a topic I’ve been silently paying attention to since this past fall: iPads in Horry County Schools.

I get why the district feels compelled to push forward its technology initiative, Personal Digital Learning. I’m just not convinced it’s not a waste of money.

The school board last month voted to expand the $7.8 million program, which has already provided electronic devices to middle and high school students and to fifth-graders.

The argument for the plan is straightforward. The world is becoming more technologically advanced, and students must be prepared with the requisite skills. The program may also make the life of teachers more bearable.

I don’t need to be sold on that thinking. I’m in an industry that is being upended by the kind of technology I had no clue I’d have to master when I became a journalist in the mid-1990s. Back then, email was in its infancy and I can’t remember when I first logged onto our website, or realized we even had one.

Today, the Internet is forcing us to rethink everything, a reality facing the entire industry, and most other industries. The iPhone, iPad and other electronic devices are everyday tools, and future workers who can manipulate them best will be in high demand.

I get all of that.

Still, I am not convinced the technology program has been a necessity for students like my kids, including one in middle school.

I checked in with him periodically throughout the year to see if his experience would change my mind.

It hasn’t.

I asked him recently to name the best thing about having access to the school’s iPads.

“You can play two-player games now,” he said.

Apparently, for middle school students, certain games fall in and out of favor. Something called “Flappy Golf” has been popular, then a shoot ‘em game called “Nova.”

Those are some of the pastimes students engage in during class. They have their ways of going undetected, such as dimming screen brightness when a teacher gets too suspicious.

Because they can download apps on the iPad, Internet firewalls that are effective on laptops and desktops are no match for them.

Though district officials cite improved scores since the program was launched, there’s no way to know this early in the process if the individual devices made the difference.

And there is a growing body of research cautioning against our rush to force kids to spend more time on electronic devices. Even if they become masters in manipulating iPads, that doesn’t mean they are receiving the kind of rounded education they really need.

Besides that, my son simply didn’t need one. He has access to multiple devices at home. We would not put a $600 device in his hands, knowing his maturity level — he first has to prove he’s responsible enough to handle a $75 tablet we bought for Christmas — and we didn’t ask the school district to put one in his hands for us.

Achieve3000, ALEKS and other online educational programs have been useful, and electronic devices are great research tools. They were part of the curriculum during our year-long stay in Cambridge, Mass., as well.

But there we did not have to pay a $50 fee to insure against a broken iPad, nor $100 for other repairs, because our kids had access to the devices as they needed them — in class — not as part of a mandate for every student to have his or her own.

Horry County’s technology initiative, if refocused on closing the technology gap between students who don’t have access to such devices and those who do, might make more sense.

Don’t waste money on kids like mine, who are already exposed to such things. Identify the kids who aren’t — and help them while saving taxpayer dollars, too.

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Issac Bailey | Horry County Schools’ iPads initiative wasting taxpayer dollars."