WiFi on the School Bus changes the whole experience

[Bruce Nunnally]

VAIL, Ariz. — Students endure hundreds of hours on yellow buses each year getting to and from school in this desert exurb of Tucson, and stir-crazy teenagers break the monotony by teasing, texting, flirting, shouting, climbing (over seats) and sometimes punching (seats or seatmates).

But on this chilly morning, as bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school students are quiet, typing on laptops.

Morning routines have been like this since the fall, when school officials mounted a mobile Internet router to bus No. 92’s sheet-metal frame, enabling students to surf the Web. The students call it the Internet Bus, and what began as a high-tech experiment has had an old-fashioned — and unexpected — result. Wi-Fi access has transformed what was often a boisterous bus ride into a rolling study hall, and behavioral problems have virtually disappeared.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/education/12bus.html?em

This seems like a terrific idea to me -- and I'm sure it helps a lot of last minute homework in addition to Facebook access.

[Texas Jim]

When I first saw the article..my first thought was ... "Just another way to waste taxpayer money.

But on further reading and further thought... it may be a "GOOD" way (for a change) to spend taxpayer money.