If you have some time to kill, click over to eSchool News and read about educators that are looking at ways of using the iPhone in school.
The article sites new potential applications on the iPhone: world weather, encyclopedia, simulations, widgets, blogs, etc.
Consider the cost of implementing a project like this. The iPhone is $400 even after the $200 drop last month. The least expensive plan is $60 per month with a two year agreement required. That adds up to $1840 for a portable computer with a screen the size of a deck of cards.
If you can get past the cost, consider this. I don’t know of a school in Ohio that permits cell phone usage during school. Who will stop the kids from texting all the time? And I won’t even mention that there will be no way to filter web content on each of these cell phones that can easily bypass the schools wireless network.
For the same money, buy everyone a high end laptop. It will do more and fit into the environment better. I thought the iPhone hype was over.