VOA慢速英语:A School System in Maine Gives iPads to Kindergartners

Nine years ago, Maine became the first American state to provide laptop computers to all seventh and eighth graders in public schools. The northeastern state has since expanded that program to about half of its high schools. Now, one school system in Maine has launched a project to provide tablet computers -- the Apple iPad -- to all kindergarteners.
9年前，缅因州是第一个在公立学校所有七八年级提供手提电脑的州，这个位于东北部的州将这一政策实施到近一半的高中。目前，缅因州的一个学区发起一个项目，为所有的幼儿园孩子提供苹果的ipad平板电脑。

Some people have criticized the project as a waste of money. But school officials expect it to increase learning.
有人批评说这个项目是在浪费钱财，而学校官方希望能促进学习。

LAURIE GERARD: "Now, we're going to explore ... "
LAURIE GERARD：“现在，我们开始探索......”

Laurie Gerard teaches five- and six-year-olds at Sherwood Heights Elementary School in Auburn, Maine. Before the students collect their iPad, they say a rhyme to remind them how to be careful with it.
Laurie Gerard在缅因州奥本地区Sherwood Heights小学教5到6岁的孩子，在学生收到ipad之前，他们念了一段如何仔细使用的儿歌。

LAURIE GERARD AND STUDENTS: "Fingers on the bottom, thumbs on top, that way my iPad won't drop."
LAURIE GERARD和学生们：“手指放在底部，拇指按在上面，这样我的ipad就不会掉下来。”

Ms. Gerard plans to use different applications to help her create a learning plan for each student. The iPads have been in her classroom since the school year began in September.
Gerard女士准备使用各种应用帮助为每个学生建立学习计划，自9月份开学以来，这些ipad就在她的教室里。

The principal of the school, Laura Shaw, says the iPads quickly let children know if they answer questions correctly.
校长Laura Shaw说，ipad可让孩子们很快就知道回答是否正确。

LAURA SHAW: "Kids, especially in kindergarten, are very hands-on and learn best when they're actually manipulating information and manipulating objects. When you have eighteen kids in the classroom and you see ten kids, hands raised up, the teacher does her best to get around. But sometimes with the iPads and certain apps the kids get immediate feedback. They know what they've done is correct and they can move on, or they know 'Oh, I need to ask for help.'"
LAURA SHAW：“孩子们，尤其是幼儿园的孩子们，在操作信息和对象时非常得心应手。如果教室里有18个孩子，你会看到有10个在举手，老师会尽力帮助解决问题。不过有时使用ipad和一些应用程序，孩子们可以快速得到反馈。知道自己做对了，就能继续下去，或者明白‘噢，我得问问老师。’”

Almost three hundred kindergarteners in Auburn are using iPads this year. Project coordinator Mike Muir says he believes the computers can help students improve in reading and math. Less than two-thirds of the third graders in the school system are at what are known as benchmark levels..
今年奥本地区约有300个幼儿园孩子用上了ipad，项目协调员Mike Muir说，他认为电脑可以帮助学生提高阅读和数学。该学区少于2/3的三年级学生都达到了基准水平。

MIKE MUIR: "One of our literacy interventionists was working with several of her students, and, having a hard time with helping them be successful, she finally pulled out her own personal iPad and had them work on some apps for letter recognition and letter formation, and they met the benchmark very quickly and even as she moved on to other topics with these students, they retained that level of mastery."
MIKE MUIR：“我们的一位读写老师在教几名学生，费了很大的劲来帮助他们提高，她最后掏出自己的私人ipad，使用一些应用程序来认字母和字母结构，他们很快达到基准水平，甚至当她教学生其他题目时，他们已经很熟练掌握了。”

School districts in other states including South Carolina, Tennessee and Illinois are also using iPads. The project in Maine costs two hundred thousand dollars. Most of that money is from the state and the federal government.
包括南卡罗来纳、田纳西州和伊利诺伊州在内的其他州的学区也在使用ipad，缅因州的这个项目耗资20万美元，大部分资金来自州和联邦政府。

Not everyone supports the project. Computer science professor Elliot Soloway at the University of Michigan studies technology in education.
不是每个人都支持这个项目，计算机科学教授Elliot Soloway在密歇根大学研究科技教育。

ELLIOT SOLOWAY: "It's ridiculous! [Laughs] And it's ridiculous not because of the iPads but because of the amount of money. Technology is really a wonderful, wonderful idea, but the problem is that the iPads won't scale. The iPads are not sustainable."
Elliot Soloway：“太荒谬了，之所以荒谬并不是ipad本身，而是所花的钱。技术当然是个很神奇的想法，但问题是，ipad是不可扩展的，不可延续的。”

Is the iPad an effective learning tool? Educators in Maine plan to give a report at the end of the school year.
ipad是否是有效的学习工具？缅因州的教育者准备于学年末提交一份报告。