TOPIC:
As reported by the Orange Country Register, the city of Anaheim, California is taking truancy seriously. The Anaheim Union High School District has become the first in California to test GPS technology as a means of ensuring that students come to class.
Seventh- and eighth-graders with four or more unexcused absences during the school year are assigned to carry a hand-held GPS device and check in several times a day. Automated phone calls each morning remind them to come to class, and an adult coach calls them at least three times a week.
The policy has generated some interesting commentary, including these observations in the Washington Post and at MSNBC:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2011/02/should_schools_use_gps_to_trac.html
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/18/6081656-schools-use-gps-to-track-students-who-skip
Experts include Peter Gudmundsson of the Dropout & Truancy Prevention Network (www.DTPNetwork.com)
More
There is certainly a puzzle to solve for school and district leaders—whether to jump on the iPad wagon, wait for Android’s Honeycomb and take advantage of Aps, stick with Win7 familiarity, especially if your environment is already Microsoft, or try something completely different. The few slates/tablets I did see at FETC 2011 in Orlando were pretty impressive, each offering something different, played Flash, and there were a few surprises as well. I expect to see more at TCEA 2011 in Austin.
KINEO
I think one of the show hits was the new KINEO by a company called Brainchild. It is unique in the slate and handheld space. While it has WiFi, this touchscreen for kids is administratively controlled and built for student safety. Aps, tools, and video are there, but it’s specifically only what the teacher and administrator want there. By design, it doesn’t have a camera, which may have a lot of education administrators sighing relief. KINEO is Android, but looks nothing like any of the other traditional slate platforms. I like that it has function buttons along with touch and stylus. It has a day's worth of battery life, and it is replaceable. This looks to be a sturdy, appropriately sized, safe computing device for kids. My feeling is the only problem will be keeping up with production—Brainchild should sell a lot of them.
