The Alberta Teachers’ Association

The majority of parents whose children attend elementary school in Meaford, Ontario, have voted to terminate the school’s wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) access because of health concerns. “After learning the whole story about how risky Wi-Fi is, parents voted to protect their children’s health and plug the computers back in with hardwires,” explained Andrew Couper, a member of Saint Vincent Euphrasia Parent Council. Wi-Fi’s fate, however, rests with the Bluewater District School Board. Trustee Paul Wehrle said the decision process could take years. Parents obtained studies by the Royal Society of Canada and LEX Scientific, an environmental consulting firm that expressed concerns over Wi-Fi exposure. Those studies contradict Health Canada’s advisory issued in August, which stated that exposure to wireless Internet does not pose a health concern.

iRobot, iTeach

The South Korean government has launched a pilot program involving robot teachers. A robot named Engkey teaches English-language classes to students in two elementary schools in the city of Masan. CNN.com reports that “In high-tech South Korea, robots serve a variety of educational purposes and the government is pressing ahead with plans to expand its robot learning, or ‘R-learning,’ program.”