Sunday, November 29, 2009

“Electronic Schoolbags” in Taiwan

An article from The China Post says that the Ministry of Education in Taiwan has chosen five schools to pilot “electronic schoolbags.” The schoolbags are laptops that include electronic versions of textbooks and handouts. According to Chen Hsuan-mou, principal of one of the pilot schools, the pilot has been positive because the kids typing skills and ability to use search engines has improved along with their moods during class. However, some parents fear that the students are spending more time with the computers and less time playing outside. The article notes the positive and negative impacts of the pilot will be assessed before more classes are incorporated.