Can schools afford to provide students with laptop computers, tablet computers or dedicated e-book readers? TeleRead recently linked to an article about a school in the U.S. that is giving students “laptop computers as part of the school’s push toward an all-digital curriculum”.
Last year the U.S. Census Bureau released data on K-12 school spending that may help provide perspective.
U.S. public school districts spent an average of $8,287 per student in 2004, up from the previous year’s total of $8,019. In all, public elementary and secondary education received $462.7 billion from federal, state and local sources in 2004, up 5.1 percent from 2003.
The 2004 data was released in 2006 and so there is a lag in information availability, but the data does help to show the relative size of school spending.
The cost of devices that can read e-books varies dramatically. The OLPC apparently costs $150 per unit in large quantities though availability is currently restricted. The eBookwise costs $124.95. The Sony e-book costs $349.99 in the SonyStyle online store. Laptops that have been deployed in the U.S. so far have been considerably more expensive. For example, Empire High School in Arizona became the state’s first all-wireless, all-laptop public school in the fall of 2005. The laptops distributed to students cost $850 each according to an AP article (PDF warning). For comparison, a set of textbooks costs $500 to $600 according to the superintendent of the school district. Both textbooks and laptops would be used for multiple years. The school also installed 300 electronic whiteboards called Smart Boards as part of the move toward an electronic curriculum.
