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I would like to address multiple concerns surrounding the possibility of schools transitioning from an all "hard copy" source of teaching to a more economical and environment friendly "technological" source. By this, I mean the use of technology such as the iPad.
Some would argue semantics all day long about why we need to keep textbooks in the hands of our children versus creating another social structure of only wanting to read a digital copy. Not only does this argument lack supportive logic, but it also lacks intuition when being able to see all of the various uses that this one tool can bring about with just 1.3 pounds and about 9 mm of thickness. I forgot to mention that it can be used for 10 hours straight, which means an entire day of school and then more.
I for one always hated packing my backpack every morning for school; the same five to six books will not fit in the bag so typically I would always have to carry one in-hand.
Again, people will argue semantics saying that, "We all had to carry books back in our day!" Well, thank you, for your service to the book-carrying gods but we are no longer in a time and age where it is required to always tote things. Devices can be a great tool if utilized correctly, and in most cases, they eliminate a lot of the administrative costs for ordering textbooks in hardback, constantly printing daily assignments on paper just to be thrown in the recycling bin (which still costs money), and finally the whole issue surrounding the outpacing of use for each textbook.
In short, ordering one textbook in 2011 will leave it already outdated the day of purchase; replacing them every two to five years is even more expensive, and it is an enormous waste of storage space when they are not being used.
Georgia has always been a conservative state. Sometimes it has been a good thing, while others it has left the majority of our people (who are anticipating change) without progression. It seems in our current budget crunch right now people are trying to look for ways to save money "now" and only now. What should be done is proactive solutions be drafted "now" for what can become a generational savings agenda.
If we need to save $3 million this year for Hall County schools, why can we not plan ahead to implement something "now" which will save us $15 million over the next five years. That is the equivalent of building an entirely new high school with state of the art facilities.
That, or we could always digitalize our administrators whose representation in comparison to our instructors is roughly one-third but costs twice as much as our instruction. Just something to reflect on when thinking about whether or not to vote for the SPLOST. It does help, regardless of what the commissioners do or do not know about finances.
Steven Ellis
Gainesville