Laptops from schools question

[busymama7]

My oldest 2 children are visiting cousins for 2 weeks. The cousins are public schooled. They were on spring break last week, but are back in school this week. My oldest texted me this morning telling me that his 2 older cousins(15 and 17) have 2 macbooks each they got from the school for school. He said how great it was and since we know someone on the school board here he told me to tell her to do it for our local schools(not sure how he thought it would affect him, but anyways:)). I responded by saying something along the lines of it being nice for the cousins to have those but that our school district is struggling with funds and would not be able to do that. But it was ok because lots of $$ and fancy technology does not guarentee a good education, paper and pencil could do just as well, but Im sure they are fun to have. Apparently he was discussing this at the time with his aunt cause he came back with how important it was for our society to have the kids learn computers and how they would be smarter and would learn more because they had more opportunity. Also they have time to learn more stuff cause they can combine subjects etc.

 

Now, my son is only 14 and Im sure thinks being given a macbook is the coolest thing ever. And I agree that having computer skills is ESSENTIAL in this day and age and for job market skills etc. And there are certainly good ways to use computers in education, of course! But, I just have a picture in my head of these computers actually being a distraction to teens more than this huge help to make them smarter, better educated young people. I am not against computers by any means, Im just wondering what the balance is, I guess. We have 1 desktop for 9 people and we do fine, but are getting another one soon. I would consider getting laptops for my high school age children but Im wondering exactly what they would be doing on them? Research? Ok. Word processing/excel/powerpoint skills? Great. Photo editing? Ok. Facebook? Skype? I KNOW my nephews are doing that! which is fine of course, but I dont consider it education! Computer programing would be awesome. But, what are these high schoolers really using them for? Please educate me. I need to think this through before he comes home because Im sure it will be a big topic.

[dakarimom5]

The local school system here is spending $400,000 to give every 5th grader a netbook next year. I think this is the dumbest idea ever. How are they going to keep them from playing games on them? And if a child breaks one,who pays for it? I would think the parents but what if they can't afford it?

 

This issue makes me very angry,especially since they are talking about letting go of all non-tenured teachers. In my opinion, the public schools need teachers more than they need computers.

[bettyandbob]

A school district near me gave all high school students a laptop a few years ago. I haven't seen a final assessment of the experiment (I probably missed it), but I did see some midyear observations. First, understand there is only one very large high school. Second, the demographics are very wealthy and very poor and not much in between. It sounded like it was a positive program. It allowed kids who had no computer access outside of school to do homework, research, contact teachers, etc. outside of school hours. If you can't stay after school to use computers at school because you are expected to be home watching a younger sibling after school this is a real issue. It also allowed many parents communication access with the school they never had before. Interviews with the wealthy kids revealed that they didn't use the school issued laptop because the school laptops had less bells and whistles than their own and the school laptop had software that restricted access to some internet use. It actually sounded like the school system was filling a need, but I don't know what they decided in the end about the process.

[elegantlion]

A friend's dd is in a school where each student has a laptop. I think part of the reasoning is that many textbooks are available online now. I'm not sure, but I think it read it costs less to buy the digital copy of a textbook, vs the printed version.

 

It certainly COSTS less and saves trees by not buying printed textbooks every few years. It also saves physical room in a school. It can also save the backs of students by not carrying so many books around.

 

I'm not sure how helpful it is for students who can not read on a computer well. I also have mixed feelings about how much privacy is afforded the student in regards to the computer. Remember the case a few years ago where a faculty member was using the webcam to spy on students?

[Trish]

Technology is a nice supplement to education, but it can't replace books, pencils, paper, and actual THINKING. In some ways, the technology can be a distraction at best, and an unnecessary crutch at worst.

 

There was an article this week about how some school districts are ditching textbooks altogether in favor of computers etc. in the classroom.

 

I think it's a bad idea.

[Anita in NC]

I have to admit that all my children have their own computers. Really the only one that needs one for school is my 9th grader.

 

He does use his laptop for school a lot! He does his research for papers, reads educational things, looks things up and is currently teaching himself game development.

 

The other two boys have desk top computers and use them for games and do not really use them for school at this point.

 

As far as public schools giving out laptops to students I wonder if that is a good use of funds considering the huge cuts they are making in other areas.

[Aubrey]

The local school system here is spending $400,000 to give every 5th grader a netbook next year. I think this is the dumbest idea ever. How are they going to keep them from playing games on them? And if a child breaks one,who pays for it? I would think the parents but what if they can't afford it?

 

This issue makes me very angry,especially since they are talking about letting go of all non-tenured teachers. In my opinion, the public schools need teachers more than they need computers.

 

I taught at a school that gave laptops to ea student. The funding, though, was not done by the school--a technology firm (can't remember who) gave the school a grant.

 

When I was in school, there weren't enough computers in the lab for everyone, & lab days were few & far between. You just didn't have a chance to really learn to use a computer or ever get comfortable w/ one. The kids who did? They had computers at home because their dads were engineers.

 

Even here, there's a lot of lag time, waiting for one's turn on the computer. What do we use them for in 2nd & 4th g? Writing, learning to type, research, etc. I don't think they're *necessary* before 5th--although some computer use before then seems like a good idea--but, yeah, if we could afford it, I'd be getting my upcoming 5th grader a netbook in the fall, too.

[Hen]

I think they could be a good thing, if used wisely and if the school actually has a scope and sequence to teach skills with it. Otherwise, it's just an expensive experiment that will be obsolete in a few years.

 

I attended a brand new Jr. High, it had a computer lab with brand new mac computers. I don't think the teacher of the class knew anything about computers, she issued typing manuals and we were just expected to arrive, sit down and type. No matter many of us did not know how to really type. We played around with the icons to figure out how to do some basic things on the computer, but nothing was taught. All those new, nice computers were just a waste. This was in the 1980's - we did not have a computer in our house.

 

I agree with an earlier poster- the important thing is to learn to think.

[busymama7]

These are some interesting thoughts. Thanks for the discussion! I agree for the kids who dont have computers at home they are probably a huge blessing and a need. It just seemed that my SIL was spouting the party line of making smarter kids who can learn better and have more opportunities etc. And maybe that is true in a PS, but not in a homeschool. My kids certainly know how to use a computer and use nearly or everyday. But i dont think they need their own.

[Photo Ninja]

I like the idea that students who have no computer at home may have the opportunity to learn computer skills on a school issued computer, but I am not yet convinced that it is necessary or beneficial to issue them to all students. Students who don't have internet access at home still won't be able to research while they are babysitting younger siblings. Without school-provided internet access the student would be better served by reading books. It is more likely they will be playing whatever games have been loaded onto their computers.

 

Students may have more opportunity to research with computers, but how many students will really spend enough time researching to make the purchases worthwhile? Students may have more access to info, but that doesn't mean they will access it or know what to do with what they access. I agree that computer skill is necessary, but the fact that students have laptops does not guarantee or even logically lead to the end result of better educated or skilled students.

 

Oftentimes the money used to purchase the laptops comes from grants and donations, not from the school district's general or technology budget. Sometimes if they don't purchase the laptops then they just lose the money altogether. Schools don't always have the option of using available money in the areas of their greatest need. But that is another issue altogether.

[LibraryLover]

The private school some of my children attended issued laptops to each child in grades 6-8. It made many things easier. They could only get internet in school. However they rigged it...no internet at home. It's been 4 years now and I don't rmemeber the ins and outs of how that worked. I liked them. You could actually read all of the teacher comments on writing assignments, parents could print out information etc. The laptops had to be turned in every summer, and then at graduation. Maybe my memory is foggy, but I remember it as a really helpful tool.