MadWords Then

I think a school that had classrooms that ran only with portable laptops would be so cool because then you won’t have to lug all your stuff from class to class and your textbooks would be online. also, if you have free time, in a particular class, you can finish homework from another class without having to use a hall pass to get your assignment from your locker, because it would be in your laptop. It sounds like a great and creative way to spark interest in students. If that ever did happen, teachers can find websites and interactive programs on the internet and make a student love a class. But obviously, everything has it’s drawbacks, including this. First off not everyone in the school district can afford a laptop-so that person would be left out and possibly embarassed at the lack of money. that can spark bullying and is a form of discrimination. second, if to avoid all that, the school district provided us with the laptops, where will they get the money to afford something like that? in case nobody’s noticed we are in the middle of a national crisis, with money, and schools are getting hit the hardest. third, there is the issue of health hazards-the bright light from the laptop screen thingy can cause seizures to some sensitive people. that would be a terrifying and scary experience for everyone and might possibly scar people for life. also staring at a screen for long periods of time can seriously mess up your vision, and i don’t know about you, but i want decent eye vision when i’m old. And lastly, how will teachers know if a kid on the laptop is taking notes or emailing or in a chatroom with someone in a different classroom. They could be doing whatever they want and being a big distraction but a teacher will never find out. Some people may call me paranoid, dramatic, or even an over reactor, but i think i’m being very realistic here when i say this, the chances of us having even one class with everyone having their very own laptop is really slim. And quite frankly, i don’t think will happen well after we have graduated. i hope it does because it is really cool sounding but something like this doesn’t happen overnight.

Aman,

Wow!

Thank you so much for giving such a detailed and thoughtful comment!

This will help me big time in trying to understand what students think about technology in the classroom.

I hope that you are wrong about how long you all will have to wait to experience a plugged-in class, but I get the feeling that you hope it comes sooner than later as well.

-Mr. M

I think that the laptops the teachers got are sweet. I also like the projectors. They are cool becasuse one of my teachers made a slide show, put in on the projector, and then we got to see pictures of post earthquakes.

I really don’t thikn that laptops would have that big of an impact on students’ intrests in learning. It’s like a new toy at first you can’t keep your hands after it but then after a while you get bored of it and are not as interested in it.

Also, how would you do math on a laptop????? As math being my best subject, I have to think how hard it would be to do math ona computer. Granted, a computer has a calcualter on it, but how would you show your work when your learning something. Exspecialy when dividing polynomianls by polynominals. I have never seen a division bar on a computer anywhere.

Also the fact that if someone would to hack on to the school’s infrastructure and screwed u p all of our computers than we would be stuck for a while. One more excuse for not having your homework done on time: “so and so hacked on to my computer and deleted my project so I can’t give it to you right now.”

I still think laptops are cool, I mean they can store a great deal of information in a small place, but as of right now I don’t see them having a practical use in our classrooms right now.

Tess

@Tess,
what’s a polynomial and infrastructure????

@aman s.,

a polynomanal is a mathematical expression that does not have division by a variable. Ex. (3x^3 + x^2 + 9x + 3) is a cubic polynomiamal. If you divide that by (3x + 1) linear binomal, you would get (x^2 + 3) a quadriactic binomal. Basically it’s a while bunch of algebra stuff that is a little bit confusing.

The infrastuctre is the wiring in the walls that connects the school’s computers together. Becasue or building is extremly old our infrastructure is bad. So the teachers all got notebooks from the money of the technology bond that passed last year.

Tess

Laptops in school. Hmm.
That’s a toughy if you ask me.

Well, there would be definite downfalls and there would be definite benefits.

The bad stuff:
Some students won’t be able to pay for them if the school doesn’t offer them to us. Not all of us will make sure to handle the laptops carefully. They aren’t like our current books that we lug around. It’s fine if we drop a book a few times. It’s not quite the same story for a laptop. Plus, how could we possibly keep the laptops safe? Someone could easily steal one. The school couldn’t afford to buy a new laptop, or repair one, every time something happens. Like Aman said, staring into a screen like that isn’t good for your eyes (I have experienced this firsthand). There are just too many things that could go wrong.

The good stuff:
There wouldn’t be anymore carrying around those heavy books between hours, and students could do all of their schoolwork and homework on the laptops. The lockers would have much more room inside them, too. People who don’t know much about computers could learn many things very quickly. There wouldn’t be anymore wasting papers, and not as many notes being passed if there was no need for paper most of the time.

I truly am not sure what side I am on. The good and the bad cancel each other out in my mind, leaving a “?” instead.

Only time can tell,
Kaitlyn S.

@kaitlynn,

Now you have done it! I cannot help but be most curious about examples of plugged-in classes around the world.

Truly, Kaitlyn, you have made me want to find out if your comments–as well as Aman and Tess–bear out in the “real” world.

So, I will go forth and do some research on this topic. Thanks for the inspiration!

-Mr. M

YEAH!!! I just finished Algerbra I and passed it who hoo!! Now its on to algebra II next semester.

Oh I think Kaitlyn’s idea about people passing notes is a good thing becasue if there’s no need for paper and someone is writing on paper then it would be pretty obvious what they were doing. Although, if people got on AIM, or their e-mail accounts than they could passs notes even quicker which could distract them even further.

Another benefit of laptops is that they conserve a lot (I have to find a word that replaces “a lot” because it is extremly over used, suggestions please!!!) of paper. just think of how much paper we use from taking notes, doing assignments, and all of the other stuff at school. If one school switched over to laptops that could save a lot (once overusing the word) of paper (which in turn could be bad for the econemy but oh well it ids already messed up.)

Tess

Wow! It sounds like your district has truly accepted the values of a technology rich school.

When people speak about laptops in the hands of teachers and students, I just remind them that many professional people work with or around computers constantly in their daily lives. Maybe I’m lucky that in a recent poll of my students, 97% of them reported to have daily access to a computer at home. Why do people feel afraid of giving student access to technology in schools if they are already surrounded by technology in their lives outside the classroom?

My wife is lucky to teach in a school in Springfield, Illinois, that “gives” each student a laptop. The laptops are integrated into every aspect of their days. The students can take the laptops home and continue their learning from there! Google Lincoln Magnet School in Springfield to find their website and much more about their successes!

-Mr. Lund
http://mrlund.edublogs.org