Wi-Fi school bus keeps kids quiet

A school district in Arizona has outfitted one of its school buses with a $200 mobile 3G Wi-Fi router and $60-per-month access. And guess what? Instead of punching each other and yelling all the way to school, the kids quietly tap, tap, tap away on their laptops.

If you’ve ever been on a JetBlue flight, you can imagine that’s a similar kind of blissful silence. JetBlue’s planes are all outfitted with DirecTV, which placates the drooling masses like me on the three hour flights between Boston and Fort Myers.

The same principle applies on the internet-enabled school bus in Vail, Arizona. Granted, this school district’s particular bus ride is over an hour but according to the New York Times, “Wi-Fi access has transformed what was often a boisterous bus ride into a rolling study hall, and behavioral problems have virtually disappeared.”

Wi-Fi Turns Arizona Bus Ride Into a Rolling Study Hall [New York Times]