Time to upgrade our educational system

Last week I penned an article for the Baltimore Examiner that highlighted a group of fourth grade students from Baltimore County. Back in late May, these students took a field trip to Maryland's state capital, the colonial city of Annapolis.

On the surface there was nothing unusual about this trip, since most Maryland students make this organized trek at least once before they reach high school. What was unique was how the students and their teachers communicated. The students were all given smartphones, while the teachers used tablet devices to interact with the students. The devices also insured that every child could be accounted for through the use of geo-location software.

At first, I was skeptical, given my belief that a smartphone in the hands of any aged child can get real expensive, real quick. Also, given that I was born in the mid-fifties, and attended school throughout the sixties and early seventies, I am admittedly hard to sway at times when it comes to doing things a different way. I still despise the designated hitter rule in baseball, and subscribe to the age old theory that quarterbacks should be considered target practice for the defense when it comes to football.

However, as last weekend progressed, I started thinking about the never ending debate on how to fix our "broken"  public education system. The thought occurred to me that the tools we had available in my generation should be considered antiquated in today's world. Yet, here we are, still essentially using the same system; books and pencils. Who in the real world does that anymore?

To prove my point, I will pose this question to anyone under the age of fifty. When was the last time you pulled out a pencil and paper to accomplish a task; any task? If you're like me, it has probably been awhile. Even post-it notes have been replaced by applications that essentially stick memos across your computer screen.

So, why haven't we replaced the old textbook and notebook system in our public education systems?

My gut tells me the argument will center around money. While the less expensive smartphones are a convenient way for students to look up facts and communicate on a field trip, they are not practical for the classroom. The new tablet devices, like the iPad, Xoom, or Galaxy Tab, to name a few, contain enough screen real estate to effectively allow students access to every learning tool they will ever need.

In addition, they are portable, and much lighter than the load of bricks kids now carry in their backpacks. As an added bonus, they will not have to be replaced every year. As new revisions of textbooks become available, the software can be downloaded onto the device. Considering the elimination of production costs, these new revisions should be substantially cheaper. This alone should more than pay for each device a few times over, eventually saving our public education systems money in the long haul.

The other sticking point is probably what happens if a device is damaged or stolen. In order to equip our children with the latest tools they will need to succeed, we need to strongly emphasize that parents are responsible for their children. This particularly includes their education.

Just because public education is a function of local government, does not mean it is free. It requires an investment of the parents' time. Time in teaching your children how to be responsible to themselves, and the things they are entrusted with, as well as there is a right way, and a wrong way to do things. Also, the biggest investment of time a parent needs to make is meeting with the teachers to gauge their child's progress. Sadly, a number of parents have not grasped these simple concepts.

To this end, I would charge the parents upfront for the replacement cost of the device. This should place the onus of teaching their child responsibility - at least for this one thing - squarely on the parent's shoulders. If the child returns the device unscathed at the end of his/her time at that school, the parents are refunded the money.

In this way, public education remains free. It may also teach the student a valuable lesson about being responsible for something. And that could be the most important lesson of all.