High schoolers w/ MB/MBP , do you bring your laptop to school?

[Shotglass]

No reason, unless they have a learning disability and have to have it. It's really distracting hearing people type.

Try speed and convenience. Also, when lectures are really boring, you can play games.

I'm in Germany, where bringing your computers to high school is unheard of, but I still bring my MBP from time to time, but every time there was a reason. Like the other day we were preparing for a biology presentation. Or today, we had a Photoshop unit in art class (easiest good grade ever). If you brought a laptop to class, the teacher would probably think you were trying to provoke them.

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

*Types while in bio class*

Actually, I am on wireless. But that has been my doing since I work for the city schools tech department.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I really see no need to bring a laptop to high school, in fact, if I was the father of a high school student there is no way I would allow them to bring a laptop to school. I do pretty well in college and rarely take notes on my macbook. In fact most of the students I know who take notes on their comeputers tend to score lower on tests and in class then all the people I know who take notes by hand (I wonder why?). There is also evidence that suggests physically writing something down actually helps you to retain material better, I personally find it to be this way as well (I know people who find it otherwise though).

It depends. I tend to remember stuff better if I write took the notes on my laptop. But then again I can some times not read my own handwriting. I have dyslexia.

For me it depends on the class and what type of notes I will be taking. Most of my classes I need to be able o draw diagrams and write down formulas which computers are crap at doing quickly. Now a few of my classes the type of notes is mostly just facts. If I took them on my laptop I would tend to remember them better plus I could read the notes later if I even did that. Another added bonuses is I can type faster than I can write so it became easier to keep up with the teacher. Plus I could keep looking at the board while I typed.

I personally have never found it distracting. I will admit using my laptop during some classes helped get though the rather boring classes with out falling asleep. The joys of wireless internet.

As for High school and laptops. Hell no it is just plan stupid and asking to get it stolen. College it is another matter and it usefulness is a lot greater.

 

[Rhosfelt]

I used to take my MBP when I went to high school if I was doing a video (no macs at my HS) or if it was going to be a boring day I'd game in class


I also take my psyc notes here in college on my MPB because she goes so fast I'd have a major hand cramp if I were to write out the 50+ ppt slides every 2 days -_-

 

[it5five]

Try speed and convenience. Also, when lectures are really boring, you can play games.

Your lecturers must be some of the fastest talkers around, because I've never had a professor who has talked too fast that I couldn't take good notes by hand. Or you know, repeated something if I missed what they said.

Why would you play games during a lecture? Just leave the class if you don't want to be there. Most professors know when students aren't taking notes on the laptop. You'll be happier since you're not bored, other students will be happy that the distracting kid left, and the prof. will be happy because the rude kid will have left.

 

[JML42691]

Around my high school we have a couple of techies that bring their laptops, but it's only 4 or 5 out of 4500 kids. My friend brings his PDA.

So I was wondering if any other high schoolers bring their laptops to school and why? I would be totally pysched to be able to bring my MBP, but I'm afraid it could get stolen. Plus this is no incentive to bring it unless on days where I would really need it for some presentation or something.

I go to an all male private school of about 1400 students, our school offers wifi to students (monitored by a Parental control program [Surf Control]) and about 100 students bring their computers in on a regular basis (including myself). I use it to surf the web, check emails, and play games online without having to wait 10 minutes to get a slow windows 2000 computer that is heavily monitored (you can't even get to AOL.com). But my school is about an hour commute each way and each day I have a free period that is at least 45 minutes long (65 minutes once every 7 school days) and a 30 minute lunch, so I use my mac then.

 

[ClassicMac247]

hell yeah, well i brought it a few times, im paranoid about it being stolen or it gets messed up when its in my bag. I dont want someone kicking my 1500 dollar computer!!!

 

[Shotglass]

Your lecturers must be some of the fastest talkers around, because I've never had a professor who has talked too fast that I couldn't take good notes by hand. Or you know, repeated something if I missed what they said.

Why would you play games during a lecture? Just leave the class if you don't want to be there. Most professors know when students aren't taking notes on the laptop. You'll be happier since you're not bored, other students will be happy that the distracting kid left, and the prof. will be happy because the rude kid will have left.

Bear in mind, I'm still in high school. Although my teachers are quite fast talkers. About the games - I visited a lecture at my sister's university once. There was a gallery above the room and you could look down on the laptops the students were using. About 30% of them were playing Need for Speed.

 

[Mord]

I did when I was that age, never had a problem.

 

[72930]

Yep, I take my notes with Pages, and do diagrams with Skitch...its awesome

 

[je1ani]

I do not

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

hell yeah, well i brought it a few times, im paranoid about it being stolen or it gets messed up when its in my bag. I dont want someone kicking my 1500 dollar computer!!!

That's why I miss having an older laptop to bring to school without as much fear - of course I still took care of my 400MHz TiBook, but I found myself being a lot less caring when it came to the cosmetics of it, and general handling.

I still would love a nice Pismo G3 for this reason - for some tasks I just don't need the power of a MBP (notes, playing some music, e-mail and web, etc...) and the advantages of an older machine in a school setting become apparent.

 

[CP1091]

I have always wanted to take my MBP to school. The main reason is because my handwriting is awful, and the faster I try and write the worse. Also because I am a far faster typer than handwritten. Unfortunately my high school does not seem to support the use of laptops, because no one uses them..

 

[Prof.]

I don't take my PowerBook to school.. for one it's not allowed (and definitely not allowed on the school network), and also it would get stolen in an instant.

Same here.

(even though I am no longer in HS.)

 

[ghall]

I bring my MacBook Pro with me. I'm always very careful with it, because my best friend had his $5 CD player stolen at school so I never leave it anywhere, even for a minute. I also bring my iPhone, my principal is very tech savvy so he lets us use cell phones that have media players built in as long as we don't use the phone part.

Lot's of kids bring laptops to my school, and there hasn't been any incident yet though. It works out well because our teachers want a lot of stuff typed up, and there aren't enough school computers for everyone. I look at it as I'm doing the school community a service.

 

[iMacZealot]

I don't see a reason for my courses this year (which include Honors English, Honors Geometry, Honors History, French, Faith, Faith Practice, Geography, and Health.) The only people I've ever seen bring a laptop to school are my dork friend with no life and most of the seniors I helped in a yearbook class.

The library has about sixty computers (half are 2-year-old Dells with XP, the other half 5-year-old Dells with 2000), and they can usually fit in two classes on the two sets and still have some left for people checking their e-mail or doing their fourth period homework over lunch.

The school has a lot of strict rules, but the large majority of them are not enforced. Mobile phones in class are not allowed but you can pretty much use them outside. Some teachers will let you listen to iPods or iPhones during class, too.

I don't even need a flash drive for presentations and broken printer stories. I usually can just e-mail it to the teacher from my iPhone.

 

[Rhosfelt]

I lucked out with theft I guess.. I live in a small town were word travels as fast as light so I would know in an instant who took it. Plus my friend and i had the only macs in the whole town x_X

Also playing hockey helped..(first person to fight in my league where it was against the rules too.....)

 

[MacNut]

Wow you kids are spoiled, we didn't have cell phones or media players, the iPod didn't exist and bringing a computer to school was unheard of. I don't see a reason why you need to risk bringing an expensive item to school. More of a distraction if you ask me.

 

[CalBoy]

Try speed and convenience.

Please, even the fastest professors don't talk that fast. Remember, good note taking isn't copying verbatum, it's knowing which words are important.

Also, when lectures are really boring, you can play games.

Which is something you shouldn't do. If you really are that bored, just leave. No one will force you to stay. Though your parents might not like that they're paying for a class you don't attend...

Example of what you should NOT do:

*Types while in bio class*

Your lecturers must be some of the fastest talkers around, because I've never had a professor who has talked too fast that I couldn't take good notes by hand. Or you know, repeated something if I missed what they said.

Why would you play games during a lecture? Just leave the class if you don't want to be there. Most professors know when students aren't taking notes on the laptop. You'll be happier since you're not bored, other students will be happy that the distracting kid left, and the prof. will be happy because the rude kid will have left.

Thank you. My sentiments exactly.

Bear in mind, I'm still in high school. Although my teachers are quite fast talkers.

Yeah...wait till you actually get to college

About the games - I visited a lecture at my sister's university once. There was a gallery above the room and you could look down on the laptops the students were using. About 30% of them were playing Need for Speed.

Those same 30% are also more likely to drop with a W or fail completely. Don't buy the hype; paying attention in lecture is important.

Wow you kids are spoiled, we didn't have cell phones or media players, the iPod didn't exist and bringing a computer to school was unheard of. I don't see a reason why you need to risk bringing an expensive item to school. More of a distraction if you ask me.

Again, agree 100%. I don't see the need for a laptop in high school, and you can only barely make the case for one in a college lecture class.

 

[StealthRider]

I had a school-issued Tablet PC for my job as theatre manager for my last year of high school, and never once saw a need to take it to class. However good it is, I can't see it being more convenient than a pad of paper and a pen - and I doubt a normal laptop would be much better.

Actually, that's how it is in college too - I only have one class that I regularly take my laptop to, and it's required for that class. For the rest, there's just no need.

 

[maestro55]

In High School I had an old IBM Thinkpad 390X that I lugged with me sometimes for notes but we didn't really need to bring our own systems as there were mobile labs which had the old white G4 iBooks on it and I would rather use one of those than the 390X and my last two years in High School I spent the majority of time in one of the two computer labs (I was on the yearbook staff, debate team, speaking team, and computer science team and I took all the computer classes my school offered so I needed access to the computers often for information and class work).

In College (finishing up my associates degree right now) I use my laptops on a regular basis but then again I am a UNIX major and so I have to have access to a computer to either SSH into a school server and do work or do other related things on my own system.

 

[Shadow]

I do sometimes, although admittedly not for work. As a theatre techie (w00t ) I run a lot of the assembly presentations (most of which I make in Keynote and/or iMovie) through my laptop, as the schools compys cant handle HD video (infact, they can't even handle QuickTime 7).

 

[SuperCompu2]

Wow you kids are spoiled, we didn't have cell phones or media players, the iPod didn't exist and bringing a computer to school was unheard of. I don't see a reason why you need to risk bringing an expensive item to school. More of a distraction if you ask me.

I enjoy bringing my 100% personally funded PowerBook to school every day, for speed and reliability where other school computers fall far short. I've been called on many times to help with things or for people to even use my computer (one time for a faculty meeting Powerpoint). Just today I set up a new projector in my 5th hour class and my Powerbook was the only DVI capable machine in the room to test it out. I get called upon several times per day to fix our school's failing computer system, and I love having an independent unit to get something done in a hurry. It's indispensable for many things I do on a regular basis, and tackling 3 AP classes with 2 requiring many essays per week, typing on down time is essential to keep my grades up.

I don't worry about theft because it rarely leaves my sight, if not in my locker. Plus, it's not like it's price tag is breaking the bank if it was stolen. I see myself as taking advantage of what technology has provided, just as the first students with calculators were heckled by their peers and elders. I have worked tirelessly on my school's wireless capabilities and I feel I should be entitled to take advantage every once in a while.

Spoiled? I think not. Rather an opportunist seizing technology's offerings for daily use.

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

Example of what you should NOT do:

I have an 88 in the class, thank you. Today in fact, we used the computer in a class lesson. Showing movies and visuals relating to molecular biology can be a good thing.

My other classes which I am on my laptop - AP U.S. History, a 96, and AP English Literature a 92. TV Production, a course that *I* personally created, uses Macs as their platform, and in a class of 10, plus the teacher, three of us use Apple PowerBooks/MBPs. The fact that I have a laptop actually helps me get better grades than others. So don't go and use the "I shouldn't have one because it's a distraction" card.

Not to mention the nature of work I do at school, I need to have the unit there. Also today, we used my MBP for police matters - something that without my computer, we would have not been able to do in school.

 

[Victor ch]

... I don't see the need for a laptop in high school, and you can only barely make the case for one in a college lecture class.

I do need to take my MacBook to high school. We use Fathom a dynamic data software for math and research, I have at least done several dozens of documents and tons of keynote addresses. My school is pretty into technology, and at least computer losses or robberies haven't been reported, and iPod losses occur because of vengeful acts, not stealing (you will find them crushed and thrown away at least once or twice a year because "that person is an idiot look his ipod lets smash it") I for once, have been taking my (PowerBook before) and my MacBook for 2 years and iPod/iPhone because the school knows they are useful; my math teacher acknowledged that if I listen to music during his tests I wont distracted and usually get higher grades. In some cases it isn't necessary, but in some cases computer(laptops for this matter)+school=better education.

-Victor