Public School Students Getting Zunes?

There are many things that irk me. Most of these things have to do with the politics of schools and all that jazz. That being so, I'd like to disclaim something: this post might get a little harsh. That being said, we shall begin.

A group of Liberty, Missouri's local high school and middle school students are to be receiving Zunes to listen to "lesson-supporting podcasts" in an effort to "save lost class time." Teachers are allowed to designate "No Zune Zones" where the kids can't use them.

Okay, that sounds great in lala land where the school board and Microsoft seem to be, but in factual land, students aren't going to be using the devices as intended [I'm leaving out that they're Zunes at the moment, that'll be a bit later]. A teacher reported that he hadn't seen even one student using the device as the study had wanted, and many students admit to using it for recreation instead of studying. 

I can see why they could think that it would be a good study tool, but the content of the Zune should be monitored by the teachers or the parents for this study to actually work. In fact, if it were to be done my way, no content on the Zune whatsoever except for the educational podcasts or educational videos. All Zunes would be checked in every morning, and the students would not be supplied with a USB cable. Yes, give them a charger, but don't give them a way to connect it to their own computers. Unless a teacher allows the student to put something new on or to update the podcasts, there should be no interaction between a PC and the student's Zune. 

As far as it being a Zune, [I told you I'd be getting to this] I don't really care...they could have given all the kids iPods, my feelings would still be the same...okay maybe a little less harsh. The Zune isn't cheap...we all know this, neither is the iPod. There are plenty of MP3 players on the market that are cheaper and do mostly the same stuff. If this study goes through, schools will be spending thousands upon thousands to buy every student a Zune or an iPod. Why not do something useful with that money, maybe get laptops for all the kids? Surely they can do 100 times more on an Asus Eee than a Zune or an iPod or a PoS. 

So, what do you think? Should the schools keep testing the Zunes without stricter monitoring? Or should I be able to legally smack the sh*t out of the board members that approved this.

[via Engadget]