I love my iPod. And there really are some solid instructional uses for the devices.

But the idea of buying one for every student in the state of Michigan is one of the dumbest ideas for misallocating education funds I’ve heard of in a long time.

The fact that the state doesn’t have the money ($38 million!) is certainly one problem.

Another is that schools have not asked for this equipment and probably have no idea of how they would use it.

Still a third are legislators who spout meaningless generalizations like this one after returning from an Apple-paid trip to California.

“As we move to the technology age and the knowledge-based economy, it would be irresponsible to separate technology from our K-12 system,” he said [Michigan Speaker of the House Andy Dillon]. “I have four children, and I see how powerful technology is in their learning experience.

It would certainly be nice if politicians would at least ask educators before they propose solutions to educational problems that may or may not exist.

Or is that asking too much?

michigan, ipod, apple