School Bus Fleet, June 2018

34 SCHOOL BUS FLEET JUNE 2018 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM Hardly a day goes by anymore without some new technology breakthrough or some reinvention that shakes things up In the world of pupil transportation Google is attempting to do just that The tech giant strongly believes that access to a computer and the internet as well as knowledge about how to use these tools are the linchpins of learning and therefore education both now and especially in the future While many of us take for granted that computers and cell phones are ubiquitous how often these days do you see someone not looking down at a cell phone there are still millions of people who dont have either including far too many students Google argues that this lack of connectivity has the greatest impact on students from low income families living in rural areas To its credit the company conceived an innovative way to do something about it The idea behind Googles Rolling Study Halls program is turning com mute time into learning time Its not just a drawing board concept but a reality with the potential to add value for some children and families we serve Google has been financing pilot pro grams over the last couple years in North and South Carolina Participating school districts receive mobile Wi Fi routers data plans and Chromebook laptops for students to use going to and from school on their school buses In addition each bus gets an onboard educator a special proctor to help students with both school assignments and any technology issues Wow What about students using the laptops and Wi Fi to access social media sites Google sets up the onboard system to block those limiting students Wi Fi use to educational sites Preliminary results from the pilot projects look very promising School bus drivers like it because with students occupied doing class assignments during their rides there is less need for driver attention to maintaining order and discipline on the bus Students in the program are showing improvements in reading and math proficiency as well as knowledge of the digital world that many of them lacked beforehand Google is therefore expanding this project to 16 more rural school districts in 12 states Alabama Colorado Georgia Kansas Minnesota New Mexico Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas and Virginia The concept of a rolling study hall may not work as well for students with short bus rides But increasingly because of budget challenges many school districts are requiring longer rides and these have long been common in rural areas The idea therefore seems to make a lot of sense On the flip side there are a variety of issues like data collection data ownership and personal privacy which are front and center these days When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent nearly 10 hours answering questions from U S Senate and House lawmakers on April 10 and 11 a lot of people who had been unconcerned about these issues suddenly took notice Now the landscape seems to have shifted Look up DeleteFacebook to see what I mean Also you may be interested to know that Google recently teamed up with Facebook Comcast AT T and Verizon to try to kill a proposed privacy law thats being considered in California The five companies each donated 200000 to create a 1 million fund to oppose the California Consumer Privacy Act a ballot proposition that could be voted on in the November 2018 state election Facebook and Verizon later dropped their opposition to the proposal If approved the California Consumer Privacy Act would make it easier for consumers to find out what information is collected about them and to opt out of the sale or sharing of any personal information which is both the heart and soul of the big data concept analyzing extremely large data sets to identify patterns especially in human behavior that gave rise to Google and Facebook in the first place What does all this mean for school transportation Im not sure I know Why dont you tell us what you think by visiting NAPTs Facebook page www facebook com NAPTHQ and leaving a comment Google Brings High Tech Study Halls to the School Bus School bus drivers like the Rolling Study Halls program because with students occupied doing class assignments there is less need for driver attention to maintaining order and discipline on the bus By Michael Martin NAPT NEWS VIEWS Michael Martin is executive director of NAPT Photo courtesy Caldwell County N C Schools