Our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is an instant hit on Facebook. I’ve just checked his Facebook - it showed that he had joined the network in the middle of October and to date (November 23 2009) has had 30,000 supporters!

Najib joined Facebook, which enjoys increasing popularity in Malaysia — as another channel to reach out to the people. The Prime Minister’s Facebook page can be viewed at www.facebook.com/najibrazak.  

“As is the case with this blog and my Twitter page, I will be using Facebook to communicate my thoughts and activities to you. In addition to posting status updates, I will be sharing links, Flickr photos, video from YouTube and information on my personal interests such as my favourite dish and pastimes,” he said in his latest posting in his blog.

Najib also urged the people to visit his Facebook and to share their thoughts on how to make the page better.

“Please do visit my Facebook page when you have a moment, and let me have your thoughts on how I can make it better. I look forward to receiving your feedback, and to seeing you there as a fan!” he added.

The prime minister said that encouraged by the amount of followers on his Twitter, he would continuously update his thoughts and whereabout via Twitter.

His postings which mainly related to current issues in the country also invited tremendous comments from viewers. On the information section of Facebook, Najib also put up his personal information and interests including favourite songs and music, movies and favourite quotes.

“My life is very hectic, but I love it. In my spare time I focus on Sunday family lunches, watching TV with my kids and going on holidays”.

He also listed out his late father and second prime minister of Malaysia Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak as having the greatest influence on him.

“But I admire Sir Winston Churchill’s oratory skills and never-say-die attitude, Nelson Mandela for the sacrifices he made and for never flinching in the face of adversity and JFK,” he added.

Recently, I came to learn that all Year 5 students in Terengganu will be given laptops under the state’s e-book program. That translates to RM30 million, with some 25,000 pupils involved.

With broadband connection, it is claimed that the pupils would gain access to lots of vital resources.

But I doubt the laptops will be useful academically. Mesti semua sibuk download movies, songs, porn, etc. Tak pun layan chat, friendster, facebook, etc. So I did a simple search, and I found that numerous studies have shown that there is no correlation between laptop usage and academic performance:

• The US Department of Education recently released a study showing no difference in academic achievement between students who used educational software programs for math and reading and those who did not.
• Mark Warschauer, a professor at the University of California also found no evidence that laptops increased test scores in a study of 10 schools in California and Maine from 2003 to 2005.
• The Texas Center for Educational Research, a nonprofit group, has so far found no overall difference on test scores between 21 schools where students received laptops, and 21 schools where they did not.

Interestingly, I also found that hundreds of schools across the globe have started abandoning their laptop programs. Here just a few reasons why:

• Underutilized by Students. Matoaca High School began eliminating its five-year-old laptop program after concluding that students had failed to show any academic gains. A survey found that one-fifth of their students rarely or never used their laptops for learning.
• Underutilized by Teachers. Everett Rea Elementary School in Califronia gave away 30 new laptops to another school in 2005 after a class that was trying them out changed to new teachers who simply did not do as much with the technology.
• High Training Costs. Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts eliminated its five-year-old laptop program in 2002 after it found that more effort was being expended on training teachers to teach with laptops.
• High Maintenance Cost. In Liverpool Highschool in Syracuse, parents have long criticized the cost of the laptop program: about $300,000 a year from the state, plus individual student leases of $25 a month.
• High Repair Costs. School officials in Broward County in Florida paid $7.2 million to lease 6,000 laptops at four schools, and was spending more than $100,000 a year for repairs to screens and keyboards that are not covered by warranties.

Yes, I know that Terengganu is cash-rich. Still, is the laptop program a wise move? What do you think?