A High School District Joins the Revolution

Not long ago, the San Francisco Examiner touted the SF city public schools' decision to purchase a huge supply of personal computers for its students. The thrust of the piece was that this move was something of a landmark. Really? PC's are so yesterday. The name of the game today is wireless. Just look at all of the young people sporting iPads and the like. They are remotely hooked up to wifi. It's natural for them. That's why the San Mateo Union High School District is out in front. Its trustees recently decided to spend $500,000 annually for 10 years to create a complete, all-embracing wifi system for the entire district, every classroom, every gymnasium, every cafeteria, every property. When the setup is up and running, it's expected that, for the most part, PC's will be obsolete. The wifi revolution makes sense in the academic realm for sure. Teachers and students can communicate seamlessly any time of the day or night with their portable devices. Textbooks, presumably, can be imported into the machines as well. Those 75-pound backpack burdens should become ancient history. The benefits are many and obvious.