HardOCP News
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At least one school district feels that giving laptops to students is a terrible idea, and these are the reasons why.
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Schools Giving Laptops To Students Is A Terrible Idea
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Ur_Mom
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If the kids aren't responsible, they don't get it. My kids and I both had to sign a form saying that we were directly responsible for the cost of repair for any damages of the iPad they were given during the school year. They took care of those things, too. Small school district, though, so maybe this guy's idea doesn't work on a smaller scale. From what I heard, the school tech people weren't too busy fixing students problems. But, they were only iPads and not laptops.
carnageX
Gawd
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We had laptops when I was in HS given to us (during my junior/senior year). They were the crappy Gateway tablet ones with the swivel screen and ran XP Tablet (horrible). Had explorer crashing on my a few times a day... my class's motto from the 1 IT guy (that was more of a coach than an actual IT tech) was "Just go ahead and restart it."
Anyway... where I'm going is we also had to sign a form and agreed to pay for any damages at the end of the year (we could opt in for insurance when we first got the laptop just in case which wasn't very costly). Some people had shattered screens from either dropping it or leaving them out in their cars during the winter. Overall it worked fairly well; I believe they're still doing the 1-to-1 student laptops, with the entire HS now though instead of just juniors/seniors.
Anyway... where I'm going is we also had to sign a form and agreed to pay for any damages at the end of the year (we could opt in for insurance when we first got the laptop just in case which wasn't very costly). Some people had shattered screens from either dropping it or leaving them out in their cars during the winter. Overall it worked fairly well; I believe they're still doing the 1-to-1 student laptops, with the entire HS now though instead of just juniors/seniors.
They don't need ipads or tablets. Tablets are more of a information consuming device, not creation. In business someday those students will need to learn to create reports, documents, spreadsheets, or whatever. Those are tasks that involve creating things. A computer lab with desktop computers would have been a lot more reasonable. It would be easier to keep them locked down and also from being destroyed. Teach the kids how to type, use computer, write a report, how the internet works etc. Offer the option to take a basic programming class even. Give them access to the lab to do homework etc.
At least you don't have to hear "The dog ate my QTPC report again" fron the adults.... Or do you?
At least you get a reason. We just get shrugs and "idk it was fine a minute ago"
I've seen disk drives cracked in half and jammed back in but of course "it was just like that" or individuals getting brand new laptops and bringing them in for "issues" and seeing the corner cracked. Their explanation? "It was like that when I got it".
I think once we got a legit answer of "My password wasn't working and I got pissed so I hit the screen".
ml_paladin888
Gawd
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it might not work at lower levels of schooling. but I felt it definitely was a good idea to have school issued laptops at the university level (at least the one that I went to, Stevens Institute of Technology (which coincidentally is in Hoboken as well)).
Had it not been for the school issued laptop, I would just have had my rig in the dorm, which is useless to me if I'm away sitting in a classroom. without the laptop I'd be wasting hours per week just sitting in useless classes that had nothing to do with my major or my career goals. instead, I was able to sit in those classes, quietly coding for assignments for real classes, or working on my personal side-projects, while paying minimal attention. being able to do this allowed me to use my time a lot more effectively.
Had it not been for the school issued laptop, I would just have had my rig in the dorm, which is useless to me if I'm away sitting in a classroom. without the laptop I'd be wasting hours per week just sitting in useless classes that had nothing to do with my major or my career goals. instead, I was able to sit in those classes, quietly coding for assignments for real classes, or working on my personal side-projects, while paying minimal attention. being able to do this allowed me to use my time a lot more effectively.
amddragonpc
[H]ard|Gawd
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Maybe these teachers and school management should go back to pen and paper. Really, who needs this aggravation? I can imagine the stress, directly and indirectly, these students and teachers are experiencing because of equipment malfunctions, etc.
Nah. I just hear "I dropped it, give me a new one."
Okay, you'll have to wait a few hours like everyone else.
"No, I need it now."
We don't have one to give to you right this moment.
"Why not? I'm going to call my manager."
Company policy states we have 12 hours...
Email: "Why haven't you given them a new laptop?"
An hour later...
Email "Please convene for a meeting to discuss the build and deployment process."
Thankfully, people are being fired one after another. I can't wait for my turn.
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Zarathustra[H]
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It's funny, all this expense and time spent on laptops/tablets/whatever, when studies have shown time and time again, that they have zero impact on classroom learning.
Kid - instead - need to learn to sit down, pay attention in class and STUDY when they get home and forget about all their ridiculous "extracurricular activities".
People talk about why we are behind the world in education. It's because there is too much focus on recreation.
My last two years of highschool in an IB school in Sweden consisted of:
1.) Get up
2.) Go to school
3.) Come home
4.) Study
5.) Maybe squeeze in an hour of TV or playing Half Life
6.) Bed.
There wasn't time for anything else.
This is what we have to do here. If you have time for extracurricular activities or sports, you arent studying enough!
Kid - instead - need to learn to sit down, pay attention in class and STUDY when they get home and forget about all their ridiculous "extracurricular activities".
People talk about why we are behind the world in education. It's because there is too much focus on recreation.
My last two years of highschool in an IB school in Sweden consisted of:
1.) Get up
2.) Go to school
3.) Come home
4.) Study
5.) Maybe squeeze in an hour of TV or playing Half Life
6.) Bed.
There wasn't time for anything else.
This is what we have to do here. If you have time for extracurricular activities or sports, you arent studying enough!
Ur_Mom
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That's how it was when I was in high school. Not very advanced stuff, and any programming was a "self learning class", which I did junior and senior year. Computer lab teacher knew the very basics but nothing beyond that.
I think the tablet is in addition to the computer lab. It cuts down on text books, easy to send out assignments (interactive or small quizzes). There are applications they used for quizzes, similar to the make your own on Facebook or whatever I see floating around. Teachers make those, and get the results back. No grading papers. Just create and publish quiz, kids take it, grades are right there.
Seeing it in practice, it works. Being an old-ish guy and not having it when I was younger - I think it sounds like a bad idea. So, I was proven wrong when I saw them work. A bit expensive, but I can't say if the benefits outweigh the cost.
hkcavalier
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Ah, the tragedy of the common Wi-Fi access...
Like any tool, it only works as well as the user. Looks like they learned a nice lesson though.
Like any tool, it only works as well as the user. Looks like they learned a nice lesson though.
Phoenix333
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But... but.... NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EDUCATION! GIVE US MONEY! YOU MUST GIVE US MONEY!! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!! 
TechLarry
RIP [H] Brother - June 1, 2022
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I had to do my shit on paper with pencil. Everyone else should too.
There can be separate classes for computer orientation.
There can be separate classes for computer orientation.
Actually it's more to do with the fact that 98% of the worlds population doesn't give a sh*t about computers like we do.
Did I treasure the new paperback copies of Romeo and Juliet and Henry IV Pt1 I was given for my English exam study? Did I hell.
A means to an end.
I remember how my parents had to spend a hundred bucks on a TI-85 for my geometry class.
Didn't have the sufficient graphing utilities so we had to get a TI-83 as well.
16 years later, they're covered in dust.
So glad the school insisted on us being up-to-date with technology.
Didn't have the sufficient graphing utilities so we had to get a TI-83 as well.
16 years later, they're covered in dust.
So glad the school insisted on us being up-to-date with technology.
Outdated, but a super cheapo e-reader that holds the books and that you can do multiple choice quizes and the like on would be fine.
MisterHipster
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Rather they like giving them computers or not, they will eventually give in and find something that works. Why? Because computers are amazing tools for education, and having one around all the time is having instant access to education.
Grahamkracka
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Maybe I'm outdated, but I still prefer paper and pen/pencil for taking notes and having a real book.
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I'm convinced that schools adopt laptops and tablets just to appear modern and ahead of the technological curve when the administration and teachers know fuck all about computers.
If by education you mean "online porn and games", I agree.
Because we all know that proper capitalist children should start working at the age of 8 so they learn to respect property.
RealityCrunch
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Because we all know that proper capitalist children should start working at the age of 8 so they learn to respect property.
It's not a bad idea, as long as you define work in a way that's suited for a child. As a kid, if I wasn't involved in the making of the dinner I was involved in the cleaning up, if I wasn't paying rent I was helping with household chores, if I wanted something that costs money (i.e a computer game) then I did extra work around the house or took up a small job like a paper route or mowing people's lawns.
Because we all know that proper capitalist children should start working at the age of 8 so they learn to respect property.
I was one of the kids that had to do chores to get my allowance. Clearly, you weren't.
Grahamkracka
[H]ard|Gawd
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This
I did chores at the promise of an alliance.
After 12 months it turned into "We don't owe you a dime, you live here without rent so you're going to work."
Great thing to tell to a 10 year old, no wonder I have trust issues.
There's a lot to be said for Cambodian-style child-rearing.
Because we all know that proper capitalist children should start working at the age of 8 so they learn to respect property.
I respected the things I bought with my own hard earned money a hell of a lot more than the things given to me. Hell after the first experience of having to work for something I wanted I respected other things a whole hell of a lot more. I'd say this was a lesson learned around 8(3rd or 4th grade).
I mowed lawns in the neighborhood using my dad's equipment starting at age 10. He just made sure I wore good shoes, jeans, safety glasses, and gloves and I was set mowing, edging, blower, pulling weeds, etc, and I made bank. Then I got displaced by professional Mexicans and had to cook meth in the desert with my chemistry teacher... thanks Obama. OK maybe not, but mowing lawns was good exercise and work experience for me, and I sure as hell didn't expect my neighbors to buy me a personal computer just for me the way the government is demanding.
Grahamkracka
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My professional Mexicans are getting kind of expensive. Is is possible to get amateur Mexicans at a discount?
BTW, is it just me or is that a fundemental difference between liberals and conservatives? Seems most liberals never really had any chores and just lived purely off charity into adulthood, and so socialist ideals are great because they benefited from them without any cost to it. The kids that had to work hard though, put their own sweat and blood into their accomplishments, tend to have learned to champion self-sufficiency and adopt the idea that the money they got is theirs because they recognize that they worked hard for it. It'd be an interesting psychological experiment of hippies vs cowboys.
Perhaps something similar could be adopted in schools. Top performers via grades and those that volunteer their time for school community involvement be it clubs or whatever can earn "school points" towards things like a chromebook. The lazy moochers instead would have access to a computer lab if needed after school from 3-6:30 PM or so.
Perhaps something similar could be adopted in schools. Top performers via grades and those that volunteer their time for school community involvement be it clubs or whatever can earn "school points" towards things like a chromebook. The lazy moochers instead would have access to a computer lab if needed after school from 3-6:30 PM or so.