PUBLISHER ‘S CORNER I don’t know about you, but I love new technology. It provides that convenience I’ve I Love


Technology By Tony Corpin


tony@stnonline.com


been looking for to help organize my life. It can be anything, from a new feature in a vehicle, a new phone or tablet to even a new app. I always seem to be on my iPad checking social networking sites like LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook or STNSOCiAL, where app functionality is the coolest thing. I can access the latest edition of my favorite magazines in the newsstand menu item and even subscribe to get the latest edition pushed directly to me. Tis includes School Transportation News. If you are like me, the coolest portable technology I had when I was young was a Nintendo


Game Boy. Kids these days are born into the age of portable technology. More and more parents trust their kids with iPads, iPhones and other tablets. Te earliest adopters might have been wary of putting their device into the sticky hands of toddlers, but as time has gone on, the potential of tablets, smartphones and other mobile communications devices as pass-on devices for children has become powerfully evident. Children these days have constant access to data and technology to create an interesting environment — even on the school bus. An interesting thing to consider is, with cameras in nearly every phone, anyone can


share their personal experience riding on the school bus — whether fun, tumultuous or oppressed. Video is ubiquitous, whether on TV, online, or used privately for security. Te continuous capture of imagery will be a mixed blessing. Video technology can force drivers or children to be passive, or curb violence, maybe even bullying, but issues of ethics and civil liberties underlie both uses. With these portable devices comes the conversation of education tools. Edutainment is


certainly not a new concept, but it is fueling a lot of app innovation. Mindshapes’ Jellytoons is a high-quality attempt to bring the idea of brain training to an ever younger audience on iPhone and iPad, for example, with its progress charts for parents. Ten, last month, Apple announced it was coming to market with a new e-textbook for K-12 students that partners with traditional classroom publishers McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Te new e-textbooks will be made available via the iBooks store. Will this new type of engagement reach the school bus? Could it positively affect student


on-board behavior? Maybe. Consider for example that children are being advertised to through these devices


everywhere — on the school bus, at home and at school. Kids are on their favorite websites and brands are reaching them. Te messages children receive from marketers may or may not be controlled or monitored. As student transportation operations continue to have budgetary struggles, the school bus advertising conversation must center on the use of portable devices and Wi-Fi services, especially when used for learning. Last year, a dozen Illinois school districts piloted “School Bus TV,” which was displayed on


a 26-inch LCD monitor located at the front of the bus to play commercial-free, multimedia content provided by the likes of NASA and TeenKidsNews in an attempt to reduce disciplinary problems without subjecting kids to advertising. Tose results were encouraging. I was recently walking the trade show floor at the International Consumer Electronics Show in


Las Vegas and viewed numerous technology innovations like iPhone vehicle integration, cellular blocking, digital head-up touch screen displays and much more. Te key thing I came away with is that technology will continue to evolve at a blistering pace and school transportation professionals need to be prepared to adapt to their customers — the children! n


58 School Transportation News Magazine February 2012


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