Some kids get a new box of jumbo-size crayons when they start kindergarten. Some take a pair of safety scissors. Next fall, kindergarteners in Auburn, Maine, will be getting their very own iPad. This fall, the Auburn School District will spend $200,000 to buy iPads for each of its 300 incoming kindergarteners. Advocates say it just makes sense: The tablet computers, with their intuitive interface and kid-friendly touch screen, would seem to be the ideal computer for the juice box set. With thousands of educational apps available for download, the iPad could be the “revolution in education” that Superintendent Tom Morill thinks it is. Some critics aren’t so sure. “There’s no evidence in research literature that giving iPads to 5-year-olds will improve their reading scores,” Larry Cuban, author of the book Oversold and Underused: Computers in Schools, told the Associated Press. Some parents are wary of the devices, as well. “I understand you have to keep up with technology, but I think a 5-year-old is a little too young to understand,” said Auburn mother Sue Millard. (Los Angeles Times)
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