KFK- Nease

Kindles for Kids - James Nease District 100

Data:

Number of Public School Districts: There are 294 public school districts in Indiana.
Number of Public Schools: There are 1989 public schools in Indiana. ****
Number of Students Served in Public Schools: There are 1,046,661 public school students in Indiana. ****
Number of Charter Schools: There are 53 charter schools in Indiana.
Per Pupil Spending: Indiana spends $9,248 per pupil in public education. ****
Average Class Size: The average class size In Indiana is 16.8 students per 1 teacher.

Average Text-Book Rental Fee: $100-400 annually.
Kindle Average Cost:  $79





						Cost
Every year parents or the State must pay between $100-400 per student for textbook rental fees, so assuming the price is met at $250 per student; parents or to some extent the State is paying  $261,665,250 per year in gross sum for textbook rental fees; these incur for about 6-years when new books are purchased and the cost goes up.

	We are essentially paying $260 million for outdated books in several classes, books that are heavy, tangible, and are often loaded with information that does not pertain to classroom curriculum.

	If we replaced these textbooks with school owned Kindles that cost around $79 we would be paying $82,686,219 per student at a one-time cost and for any damages incurred we could enroll a $10 user-fee which brings the total cost of using Kindle to $93,152,829 this would save the State and parents $ 168,512,421 on the very first year; from that point on it’s just a matter of charging user-fees bar totaling broken kindles which further brings the cost down to  $10,466,610 per year in student textbook fees.
				    Health Benefit

	Spinal damage is one concern that parents share with textbooks the average textbook weighs around 3.5 lbs and assuming the student is taking an English, history, science, and math course load; the student would be carrying around 14 lbs; this equivalent to walking around with a bowling ball strapped to your back, and these students carry this load 5-days a week to and from school. The Kindle weight around 5 ounces this includes the charger, this is equal to carrying around a soda can; significantly less weight is put on the shoulders, back and neck thus removing any capability of damage to those regions from required school materials.
				 Instructor Control

The Kindle streamlines teaching by allowing instructors to determine their academic curriculum by selecting several programs that best suit their classroom’s needs; English teachers are now free to select specific books for academic reading and discussion which previously was selected from a large textbook which contained small excerpt or large amounts of material that would not be covered in class; math teacher can now select programs that save and review math problems as students complete their coursework limiting paper usage and science teachers can easily create programs that can pull up the periodic table at the touch of the screen; thus increasing efficiency in teaching by saving time, energy, and resource in the classroom.
				Instant Information
Wi-Fi capability allows students and instructors to fact check almost instantaneously through Google or online encyclopedias; this aids student research and encourages students to learn more about specific subjects while in the classroom by placing students in an atmosphere of direct learning. If a student has a question over the word “lugubrious” the student does not have to walk to the library check out a dictionary and look the word up; the student can simply just search the word and learn the definition thus reducing time constraints that most classrooms are plagued with.
				Student as Innovator
We live in an age where technology is important and one of the most profitable industries in the global market; the Kindle can expand on science and mathematics by allowing classes detailed for technology that would allow students to design, create, and promote independent applications for Kindle, iPhone, and ANDROID using computer programming, computer engineering, and visual design (all math intensive); thus renewing an interest in subjects that have fallen in performance over the last decade; this allows better opportunities and experiences for students in the K-12 environment