STOP House Bill 363

If you haven’t heard about this yet, please read more about HB 363 below.

There is a Bill in the House of Representatives prohibiting possession of telephone pagers and certain electronic devices in all schools. It was referred to the Committee on Wednesday. This has educators and parents up in arms, as it should. I understand there is a time and place for iPods, handhelds, cell phones, etc. in the educational setting, but I feel that a formal bill coming from the State is ridiculous!

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2009&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0363&pn=0410

As you clearly realize, a bill that bans such a technological device with great potential will not only stipend connectivity, but the possibilities of using the device for digital creation/content (podcasts, iTunesU) or engagement (student response systems) will be decapitated.

Many have signed the petition against HB 363. If you feel passionate about this, as I do, please sign the petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/HB363/petition.html

I think the article below is timely. It’s an article about the potential release of a $99 iPhone and an upgraded version of the current 3G iPhone in June or July. Can you imagine how many MORE students will own a tool like this? And we should ask them to “power down?”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29122164?GT1=43001