Apple For The Principal: Every principal in the Philadelphia public schools will receive a free Apple computer and training under a new program run jointly with Apple Computer and Drexel University. Under the program, called Project Launch PAD, Apple will give the district 280 Macintosh Plus computers with hard-disk drives, five Macintosh portable computers, and five portable modems. The university will assist in developing the software and will offer training.
Network Battle: A proposal to build a fiber-optic network linking all of Iowa’s school districts and colleges has touched off a bruising legal and lobbying battle between state officials and local and regional telephone companies. The phone companies argue that the project, which could cost the state as much as $76 million, is a costly and potentially wasteful allocation of resources. Construction of the network, observers note, would deprive the companies of a market currently worth some $5million a year. Backers of the project say it is a needed, stateof-the-art upgrading of Iowa’s educational-broadcasting system. The state teachers’ union has stayed officially neutral. But many educators would rather see the money spent on other projects, such as installing telephones in classrooms.
Technology Center: A center designed to teach teachers about the latest in classroom technology has opened at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. Funded with an $83,000 state grant, the Center of Excellence in Science, Mathematics, Computers, and Technology will offer workshops to teachers in 10 Central Florida counties. ---Jeffrey Porro
