School laptops are more trouble than they’re worth (Editorial)
Students can stop by the computer help desk in F05 for help with school distributed laptops but only during certain times.
School distributed laptops were meant to make school work easier, but is it failing at doing so?
Too many students are complaining about computer troubles. Work isn’t getting done in the classroom, as students forget their laptops at home or don’t charge them.
Internet access is also an issue. With all these students now logging on at the same time every day, server speed is significantly decreased.
Students who bring their own laptops from home don’t have much better luck. Some don’t have access to the same things, such as Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. Home laptops break too, but they don’t have a computer help desk to solve their problems for them.
Valerie Bushey, a member of the school’s library staff, said, “[Students] come in with computer problems all the time. We direct them to the computer help desk down in F05 or take them to the technology department.”
This may help, if the students schedule works out with the help desk’s available times, 10:50am to 2:30pm.
Students get excluded from certain activities in the classroom while their computers are being worked on or don’t have time to take their laptops in. Even fully functional laptops take ages to update, and those students have to wait and fall behind the rest of the class.
The hassle of carrying the laptops and cases is almost the worst part of them. While they have the ability to replace textbooks, some teachers still make their students carry around large bulky textbooks. Students are weighed down with laptops, textbooks, binders, and anything else that they may need. Some teachers don’t even use the laptops, while others use them every day.
So in the end, are the laptops really worth it? Between the accessibility, the weight, and the available assistance, I would say no.
Disclaimer: Articles designated as “Editorial” represent the views and opinions of the author, not the 2015-2016 Periscope staff, CHS Administration, or the CHS student body.
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Kenny Brenizer is a junior and the perspectives editor for the 2016-2017 Periscope staff. She does no sports. She has no hobbies. She just wants cats and...
Sarah Frick • Dec 22, 2015 at 8:37 pm
I think there are negatives and positives to the laptops. Surely there is the times where they won’t work and are a burden to carry around, but overall they make the Internet more easily accessible without students constantly having to fight over the few desktops that can be found scattered around the school.
Terrell Wilkinson • Oct 29, 2015 at 2:13 pm
Personally I like the laptops. I don’t really think they are that bad. They are really useful when it comes to needing it at home. Such as when my MacBook stopped working; But thanks to the school I can use this one now without falling behind on work.
MacKenzie Stine • Oct 28, 2015 at 10:01 am
I totally agree with this. I think its bulkiness and technical issues are contributing to negative reactions. I also think that they are distracting. I see kids playing around on them more often then using them for the actual class work. Also, I think it is easier to use a physical textbook verses an online one. Finally, I want to add that charging it every night is just one more thing I have to add to my already extremely long to-do list each night. To conclude, I think the concept and idea is great, but ultimately the execution and reality is a little harder to agree with.
Emma Bateman • Oct 26, 2015 at 10:01 pm
All of these are good points. However, I think that school laptops are worth it because they provide the student with many options for learning. They can be heavy to carry, but allow less papers and binders to carry. There are issues with accessibility, but many of these problems have an alternative solution. I think laptops can help people be more organized, give students more time to do research (if they can’t access a computer in the library) and allow the teacher to create many different ways for the students to learn. Most importantly, I think it evens the playing field for students who can’t afford a laptop and have to share a computer or go to the library.
Jackson Hoch • Oct 26, 2015 at 11:20 am
I agree with Emma Krebs point. The Help Desk has strange hours that often doesn’t work with students schedules. I do like the laptops though, it’s givens all students the opportunity to have interaction with technology which is needed in the modern class setting it seems these days.
Christopher Pratt • Oct 26, 2015 at 11:15 am
I believe that having laptops is actually very beneficial to the learning experience. It is another tool that both teachers and students can utilize to enhance learning. Quiz websites like Kahoot allow the teacher to interact with students. The laptops are great for classes where typing is a necessity (essays in English and History, and labs in Science). I think one of the biggest issues is the laptop hardware. The laptops often have problems with updates, wireless access, and rebooting. Overall, the idea of every student having a laptop is great, but it will take time for the system to mature enough to be extremely stable.
Madelynn Kraft • Oct 26, 2015 at 11:14 am
I do not feel like its the school’s laptops specifically that are causing all the problems. I think its technology in general- we have not perfected it yet. I think some teachers are way to dependent on technology in the classroom.
Anna Walters • Oct 26, 2015 at 11:08 am
I agree in the fact that school laptops are becoming quite a hassle. Though in the educational environment they do provide opportunities for success, laptops also aren’t always functional in the fact that they are technology which has a tendency to not work 24/7. I’ve heard a lot of friends remark about the fact that they are a burden to carry around as well as the fact that you are responsible if they should become defective. It just is another step in the process that can easily require lots of time that the average student doesn’t have to spend, especially on a faulty school issued laptop.
Jasmine Sheaffer • Oct 26, 2015 at 8:11 am
I full heartedly agree with the fact that our student laptops are not the greatest at times. Personally I’ve never really had any major issues with my laptop, but I like to think that it’s because I take good care of it. I’ve watched many of my friends just keep their laptops out of the case and sitting in their book bags; they abuse them by the horrible care they take of their bags. Most of my friends will just throw their bags on the floor when they get in class and when the laptops are not protected, then how can they expect their computers to be fully functional? I know this is only one side to the story, but I do believe that if students were a little more responsible for their things then a lot of the problems that they’re facing would not surmount to such stress.
Charles Willis • Oct 25, 2015 at 9:45 pm
I never was assigned a personal laptop in any school until I came to CHS this year. I must say, having a nice laptop such as the one I am using to type this comment is one of the best things that a could’ve happened to me academically this year. Though I still write notes, having a laptop makes working on school assignments much easier and fun. Anyone who has a problem with being given a temporally free high quality laptop is ungrateful for there are many schools within our own nation that can’t supply or make technology accessible to their students due to financial reasons.
Gabriela Menendez • Oct 23, 2015 at 5:42 pm
There are some obvious advantages to having laptops like saving trees and saving your back from having to carry heavy text books, but many times, relying on computers as this school has can be detrimental to the classroom environment and to handing in assignments. Waiting for the computer to buffer or having to restart it takes up so much class time by the time the computer has finished the class has progressed on to another assignment while the student with the computer malfunction now has extra homework.
Emma Krebs • Oct 23, 2015 at 1:28 pm
I think the biggest problem with the laptops is when it comes to the help desk. It’s hard for students to be there in the middle of all their classes, and sometimes they can’t even solve the problem or it reoccurs. Personally, I prefer having the school laptop because it’s a lot more portable than my own at home and I don’t have to worry about installing Microsoft Office. They’re still a new implementation so a bit more time will probably smooth out all the issues students are having.
EmmaRose Atwood • Oct 23, 2015 at 11:22 am
I agree that the school laptops are probably more trouble than they are helpful, though sometimes it is nice to be able to work on homework and things during class instead of waiting in line for the PC in the back of room (do they even have PCs in this school anymore?). My laptop and laptop case also adds so much extra weight to my back and takes up a lot of room. Half of the time there’s not enough room in my backpack for all of the things I need for school because my laptop case takes up practically the whole bag. The laptop battery life is also very sad. It’s fully charged at the beginning of the day and then when I get home to use it to do my homework, it’s already dead and I didn’t even use it during school!
Megan L • Oct 23, 2015 at 11:15 am
I think that these are great points. I believe that the school environment worked much better and was more interactive when we were using the textbooks. Especially for people like me, who need to keep interactive with stuff – even when it’s only reading something, the textbooks were more helpful than the laptops are. I agree and I know many other people that would agree it’s not worth it to have the laptops.