An iPhone for Every Student

Forget the whole bit about one laptop per child. It hasn’t worked and probably won’t in most schools. By the time concerned administrations are done locking down the machines, they’re little more than electric pencils—with really horrible battery life. So I say we turn from this idea and go for a plan that can really work—an iPhone, or at least an iPod Touch, for every student.

From the launch of the iPhone and the Touch—essentially an iPhone sans phone or camera—there was great potential for use in schools. The Touch has all the functionality of the iPod, with just enough handheld computing for it to work as a PDA. Now, with the iTunes Application Store, the iPod Touch is a fully functional computing platform, and with a starting price of just over $200, all-day battery life, and plenty of 2.0 potential.

But there are a few hurdles to overcome before we see a massive iPhone adoption in schools. One obvious missing piece: an external keyboard that would make the iPod or iPhone a word processing device. In some ways, though, this shortcoming may be one of the platform’s strengths. The onscreen keyboard is still usable for basic text entry; remember, our kids manage to eek out a few billion text messages every year using those tiny cell phone keypads. More importantly, by shifting our outlook on the computer as a digital typewriter, we become open to new possibilities. What could you do with a library full of interconnected computers if text entry weren’t the primary focus?

A world of potential awaits educational application developers. One less publicized aspect of enterprise-level adoption is that Apple has introduced a way to create and install new programs outside of the app store. Any school could create customized software to let the iPhone function as every student’s agenda, newsletter, homework helper, student handbook, hall pass, and much more. Classrooms could benefit from educational applications that let the Touch’s WiFi capabilities turn each room into a connected mesh of learners. Need a response from students? Forget those expensive, one-trick remote control devices and have students fire up the iKnow application (or whatever the eventual author decides to call it). In library instruction, where answers so often exceed the limits of A through D, imagine the possibilities. There are already a number of available applications that make use of the iPhone’s ability to connect to other devices on the same network to enable file sharing, interactivity in games, and communication.

So which platform would be better for school use? Both the iPhone and the iPod Touch have their benefits. With its metal case, the Touch seems a bit more rugged, and for many in a school environment, the lack of a camera is a plus. But those up for a digital shooter could use the iPhone camera for documentation and connect with Web sites like Evernote.com to capture handwritten notes and convert them to text. Maybe the solution to the cameras in schools controversy is to provide one to every student and then focus on teaching ethical use. A school-controlled camera platform would also help, enabling every picture to be traced back to its source. Also on the safety front, the iPhone provides a wireless platform for emergency contact even if regular phone service is never activated.

Whether an iPhone or an iPod Touch—or even something else—the goal remains the same in the end: to provide every student with a powerful computer to enrich learning. A small, handheld solution, like the iPhone, expands the possibilities of one-to-one computing—not to mention battery life.