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School-Wide Technology Ban

A

admyler

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 3, 2011
6
0
Recently the administration at my high school decided to ban all "personal technology" meaning laptops, iPads...etc.(No personal computers) As a student that relies heavily on technology this has shocked me. Anyways it's still an ongoing debate and I'm trying to keep computers relevant in the classroom. So I'm looking to all of you wonderful people to help me come up with some A+++ reasons to keep using computers in school. Any help would be appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks!






:apple:
 
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What level school is this? High school? College? Elementary school?

And how much school-related work do you actually do on a computer during school?
 
Sounds like it is banning the personal stuff like cell phones and iPod.
It would be school owned equipment only.
 
I see no reason for student to carry laptops, iPads, etc. around at high school. Heck, I'm in college, and I have maybe taken mine to class 5 times over the past two years, and not at all this year. 95% of the time they are only a distraction (facebook, youtube, games, etc.) and aren't really relevant unless you're trying to take notes in a history class.

I wouldn't support a ban on iPods or phones, as everyone has those and they wouldn't really be able to do anything about that, although phones in class can be pretty obnoxious.
 
Sounds like a good idea to be honest. My school had an out-of-sight policy, basically you could have a phone etc as long as teachers never saw it, or it would be confiscated til the end of the week. Worked well, it keeps people from slacking off in class playing games and texting.

Can I ask OP, why do you need to use personal electronics in school in the first place?
 
balamw said:
And your role is?

B
Click to expand...

At my school we are allowed a lot of input... So my role is to talk the principal into allowing technology.

----------
boss.king said:
Can I ask OP, why do you need to use personal electronics in school in the first place?
Click to expand...

Our computer lab is not up to par, and I have a lot of applications in the classroom.(ie. Away from the computer lab.)
 
admyler said:
Our computer lab is not up to par, and I have a lot of applications in the classroom.(ie. Away from the computer lab.)
Click to expand...

Such as? I'm not trying to be a dick, I want to see exactly what you use it for? Note taking? Research?
 
boss.king said:
Such as? I'm not trying to be a dick, I want to see exactly what you use it for? Note taking? Research?
Click to expand...

All of the above including creating presentations, managing my homework, writing papers, typing lab reports, textbooks, and a knowledge resource.
 
admyler said:
Recently the administration at my high school decided to ban all "personal technology" meaning laptops, iPads...etc.(No personal computers) As a student that relies heavily on technology this has shocked me. Anyways it's still an ongoing debate and I'm trying to keep computers relevant in the classroom.
Click to expand...
My high school is very strict with technology as well. If you're caught with a cell phone on campus, it's confiscated, automatic saturday detention, and two demerits. If a student gets four or so demerits, he or she is kicked out. Having a cell phone on campus includes the phone being turned off in your pocket out of sight (I've seen a student get caught because of bulging pocket; it's quite ridiculous). As for laptops and tablets, they are encouraged for taking notes and using electronic textbooks. I have electronic textbooks on my iPad and they are great- don't need a locker at school because of them. My school doesn't have WiFi, so that eliminates the Facebook/Youtube problem. If you are caught playing games on a laptop, it's basically the same consequences as having a cell phone.

alust2013 said:
I see no reason for student to carry laptops, iPads, etc. around at high school. Heck, I'm in college, and I have maybe taken mine to class 5 times over the past two years, and not at all this year. 95% of the time they are only a distraction (facebook, youtube, games, etc.) and aren't really relevant unless you're trying to take notes in a history class.
Click to expand...
Do you write all of your notes? I take notes in basically all of my classes and it would be hard to be without a laptop.
 
admyler said:
All of the above including creating presentations, managing my homework, writing papers, typing lab reports, textbooks, and a knowledge resource.
Click to expand...

I can see why you would want to have those options, but to be perfectly honest you don't need them to learn in school. Pen and paper works just fine, and in some cases even better than a computer. On top of that, the may be an issue of fairness, that you have far more resources at your disposal than students from less affluent families. Lastly, how much free time do you have at school that typing papers and lab reports is possible? Isn't that a part of homework? Sorry, as much as I'd like to help I see no real need for a electronics in the classroom, just wants.

alexbates said:
Do you write all of your notes? I take notes in basically all of my classes and it would be hard to be without a laptop.
Click to expand...

I'm in my second year of uni and have yet to take my laptop to class. I write all my notes by hand and refer to slides from class at home. When I sit at the back of lecture halls all I see is a sea of MacBook Pros with facebook up while recording the lecture, and the odd student without a computer taking notes.
 
The only classes I find laptops even remotely useful in are humanities, where it's all note-taking with very few graphs and numbers. In every other class, I feel they're just an unnecessary hindrance. You don't need to write papers, manage homework, or create presentations during class. If you're really obsessive about recording homework assignments, just try using your phone to take down assignments with any of the various apps that sync with a computer.
 
alexbates said:
My high school is very strict with technology as well. If you're caught with a cell phone on campus, it's confiscated, automatic saturday detention, and two demerits. If a student gets four or so demerits, he or she is kicked out. Having a cell phone on campus includes the phone being turned off in your pocket out of sight (I've seen a student get caught because of bulging pocket; it's quite ridiculous). As for laptops and tablets, they are encouraged for taking notes and using electronic textbooks. I have electronic textbooks on my iPad and they are great- don't need a locker at school because of them. My school doesn't have WiFi, so that eliminates the Facebook/Youtube problem. If you are caught playing games on a laptop, it's basically the same consequences as having a cell phone.


Do you write all of your notes? I take notes in basically all of my classes and it would be hard to be without a laptop.
Click to expand...

I can't do eBooks. Reading like that on a computer screen gives me a headache after a while.

Yes, I do take all of my notes on pen and paper. I'm in chemical engineering, so there are a lot of chemical reactions and math equations and formulas that are impossible to make on a word processor. I also just find it faster to write rather than deal with formatting my notes on a computer if it's just words. I can decide how I want to organize them and just do it rather than fighting with Word trying to be "smart" and help me out. In college laptops are really only useful for language, history, some business or other humanities. Even then, I have a strong preference for pen and paper. It helps me process what I am writing better.

I suppose the usefulness of a laptop also depends on how the school is set up ( for high school). At my school, any time we needed them, they were provided, or we went to one of the computer labs. We weren't allowed our own (not that I had one anyway). My point of view is that pen and paper are always useful in class and when taking notes, and they don't provide any distractions, so that's just what I do, rather than do some on the computer and some on paper. Another thing is that the desks are puny. Most barely fit my 13" MacBook, so that's a pain too.

There are a few reasons that computers are beneficial (again, depending on the class and school), but I haven't ever felt it necessary to use mine during class.
 
alust2013 said:
I see no reason for student to carry laptops, iPads, etc. around at high school. Heck, I'm in college, and I have maybe taken mine to class 5 times over the past two years, and not at all this year. 95% of the time they are only a distraction (facebook, youtube, games, etc.) and aren't really relevant unless you're trying to take notes in a history class.
Click to expand...

  • At our school, the PCs are awful, it you can spend 10 minutes out of an hour logging on/off. Bringing a laptop means instant on.
  • No wifi access at our school means no online distractions, I've never seen anyone gaming on a laptop at school either. I've seen loads of people using school computers reading comics in class, though.
  • They don't always have the software we need (our school wouldn't set up an MySQL server which everyone in class needed).
  • If you want to use software school doesn't have you're out of luck most of the time, unless you can find a portable version, and god forbid you try to smuggle in a command line application.
 
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