A school system in Arizona tested a theory about student behavior on school buses and the internet. The idea was to enable Wi-fi internet for students to access school online content during their morning and afternoon trips. The findings indicated that students were more engaged in their online connection than disruptive behavior. A source said, "mischief has all but subsided and the bus has magically morphed into something of a rolling study hall."
Adding mobile internet to a bus or source of public transportation is a great way to increase productivity, offer incentives for riding and keeping riders happy. However, when your target audience is school-aged children, it's probably best to keep limitations on that media.
The NYTimes source that broke this story stated students had access to social media sources like Facebook. This clouds the schools ability to regulate content and opens up the doors for potential school/home jurisdiction issues. This could also be counterproductive if the student originally used that time to study or finish homework. The idea of using the internet as a full time babysitter also has its drawbacks in social development. As children rely more intently on technology as a source of entertainment, what happens to traditional social relationships? IAD is a very real condition that is being perpetuated by these technological integrations. http://psychcentral.com/netaddiction/
