School-Wide Technology Ban

[Firestar]

realizing that the majority of people who have personal gizmos just jack around with them in class makes this seem pretty logical

That's not at all true. People in my school have iPods, cell phones, DS's, etc, but I never see anyone using any of those during school except when it's allowed and when they occasionally text in class when the teacher hasn't started class, which doesn't cause a problem.

 

[AdrianK]

Wouldn't you do all of that at home?

What are we meant to do in study periods then? Since apparently we're not allowed distracting gadgets...

 

[cantthinkofone]

Welcome to USA public schooling. Push through and when your done you will get to deal with people with reasoning and actually get an education.

 

[boss.king]

What are we meant to do in study periods then? Since apparently we're not allowed distracting gadgets...

Study?

 

[Airforcekid]

My high school had laptops awhile ago and got rid of them they never secured the network half the class was using limewire or piratebay in school. Needless to say they no longer allow any electronics even cell phones a complete 360. In college I was required to bring a laptop to my English and government classes but I found it worthless in math and chemistry.

One of my favorite memories was half the class playing call of duty over the schools network for weeks (multiple grades/classrooms) before a teacher noticed.

 

[AdrianK]

Study?

As much as I'm a fan of making notes on paper, typing them is way more practical.

Besides, I normally take notes on paper then type them up as a revision exercise. I find it kind of hard to get enthusiastic about copying notes 1:1 to another sheet of paper. You could say 'do that at home', but that *is* our homework for computing, and as one of the three subjects I do it's 1/3 of all homeworks I get (though I do it for all three), so why not do it at school?

And yeah, I could use a school computer, but instant on + less moving around between desks (when getting on and off a computer) = more efficient use of time.


To be honest, bringing my mbp to school is only a hinderance in that it's a bitch to lug around an extra 2kg on my back.

 

[Shrink]

Hey, kid, when I was in High School we were taking notes on stone tablets.

If it was good enough for us...


(Just speaking up for the old farts )

 

[AdrianK]

Hey, kid, when I was in High School we were taking notes on stone tablets.

I lol'd Nice to see someone that doesn't take things too seriously

 

[Andeavor]

You lot are all spoiled to the brink. When I was in school we relied on the traditional pen and paper. We did have computers back then but they were too heavy to carry around, let alone finding a plug for everyone. The internet was *just* invented and was noisy and slow and the only thing you could do with the bulky cell phones we had was call someone, send blinking texts, play Snake or set the alarm in case you fell asleep in class. But we had enough common sense to turn them off and have our pens ready to take notes.

When... did I get old?

 

[darkplanets]

Honestly laptops aren't really necessary in a lecture type setting, especially as you get older. While I understand why you would want your gadgets (I was there once too)... it's really not necessary. In many cases it turns out to be more of a hindrance than anything else; it's hard to type matrices, differential equations, pathways, reactions, etc. on a laptop... in fact it's just not practical for almost all science related fields, especially the more advanced the subject becomes.

Enjoy the independence from technology... you won't need it in the classroom anyways.

 

[avro707]

Back in the old days, we didn't have these fancy fangled laptops and iPads or fancy mobile phones! If you wanted a mobile phone, it was a Motorola Ultrasleek (yes, indeed) or a phone carried in a bag with a shoulder strap!

And the laptop was the schools one, an Apple with a colour screen running maybe System 7. It was a dark grey behemoth of a thing and not very desirable.

But the office-admin people those amazing Apple Weed-Whackers to produce their newsletters! Oh, how things have changed now.

Back in those days, I'd lug a backpack full of heavy text-books and carry a big folder full of notes. It was terrible. But it was a great way to keep fit, rushing about with that load.

Nowadays, kids have laptops, and classrooms have smartboards, etc. Unbelievable how different things are - and it shocks me when I occasionally do go on school visits at work sometimes. It's more of a jolt when you go back to your old school and see how things have changed. Electronic text books are a great idea to have on iPads. it's a similar thing you see now with trials of electronic flight bags, as an alternative to having a huge roll-aboard with all the books and charts. It doesn't seem to be common place, but it's a nice idea.

So there you are Macaroony, that might make you feel a bit younger!

 

[Shrink]

You lot are all spoiled to the brink. When I was in school we relied on the traditional pen and paper. We did have computers back then but they were too heavy to carry around, let alone finding a plug for everyone. The internet was *just* invented and was noisy and slow and the only thing you could do with the bulky cell phones we had was call someone, send blinking texts, play Snake or set the alarm in case you fell asleep in class. But we had enough common sense to turn them off and have our pens ready to take notes.

When... did I get old?

Kind of sneaks up on you, doesn't it?

Wait until you get to my age - it's terrifying.

 

[tjb1]

You shouldnt have your own computer in high school anyway...

 

[boss.king]

As much as I'm a fan of making notes on paper, typing them is way more practical.

Besides, I normally take notes on paper then type them up as a revision exercise. I find it kind of hard to get enthusiastic about copying notes 1:1 to another sheet of paper. You could say 'do that at home', but that *is* our homework for computing, and as one of the three subjects I do it's 1/3 of all homeworks I get (though I do it for all three), so why not do it at school?

And yeah, I could use a school computer, but instant on + less moving around between desks (when getting on and off a computer) = more efficient use of time.


To be honest, bringing my mbp to school is only a hinderance in that it's a bitch to lug around an extra 2kg on my back.

But studying isn't just copying, it's understanding. Write your notes out in your own words a few times, it will sink in far better than typing. I Prefer doing essays and stuff on a computer, but for notes it won't hurt to use a pen. I think the number of kids who would actually use their iPad/laptop to study/work is a far smaller number than those who would just mess around and play games. Ultimately, if you really feel it suits you then there's no way I can tell you that you are wrong, but all too often I get people telling how technology improved their workflow when it really hasn't.

You shouldnt have your own computer in high school anyway...

Why not? A computer is an awesome resource at home, and having to share one in a family is often inconvenient.

 

[renewed]

Why not? A computer is an awesome resource at home, and having to share one in a family is often inconvenient.

Don't even give him a second thought. He has been trolling, unfortunately successfully, all day.

 

[boss.king]

Don't even give him a second thought. He has been trolling, unfortunately successfully, all day.

Yeah, I just came across one of his posts about why assaulting gay people is good...

 

[dukebound85]

That's not at all true. People in my school have iPods, cell phones, DS's, etc, but I never see anyone using any of those during school except when it's allowed and when they occasionally text in class when the teacher hasn't started class, which doesn't cause a problem.

It is quite true

I see people all the time playing games and checking facebook with laptops

 

[Andeavor]

But studying isn't just copying, it's understanding. Write your notes out in your own words a few times, it will sink in far better than typing. I Prefer doing essays and stuff on a computer, but for notes it won't hurt to use a pen. I think the number of kids who would actually use their iPad/laptop to study/work is a far smaller number than those who would just mess around and play games. Ultimately, if you really feel it suits you then there's no way I can tell you that you are wrong, but all too often I get people telling how technology improved their workflow when it really hasn't.

That's quite true. Back then, our teachers always said that if we listen, write down and talk about the material we'd have three times the chance to remember it. In fact, For the time being, I would pretty much recall anything I wrote down in class, especially if I re-wrote it at home in my own words in case my writing was too squiggly. And reading it out loud only made it sink in much quicker.

 

[mrsir2009]

Playing extremely difficult games in class together has taught us more about teamwork than any slack-ass health lessons

----------

That's quite true. Back then, our teachers always said that if we listen, write down and talk about the material we'd have three times the chance to remember it. In fact, For the time being, I would pretty much recall anything I wrote down in class, especially if I re-wrote it at home in my own words in case my writing was too squiggly. And reading it out loud only made it sink in much quicker.

My social studies teacher makes us write down everything, so we'll remember it better. Its damn boring and makes your hand sore, but I have to admit it does work.

 

[chrono1081]

I sympathize with you OP. I was one of the students (I graduated in 2000) who was desperate for technology in the classroom as I wanted to go into computer science but our school offered no computer related courses.

I think technology is a wonderful tool to learn, and its sad how many people I graduated with don't understand computers. Also I have to say that honestly many teachers simply suck at teaching*, and technology is a way to circumvent that. If a teacher doesn't explain something well, or doesn't want to explain something well then the student should have every right to be able to fire up something that does tell them, like the internet.

That being said I do understand the schools point as a system like that would be insanely abused, but with the right monitoring from the teacher it could be a good thing. Maybe you have 10 min at the end of class to research on iPads, computers, etc.

*On a side note about the "suck at teaching", it wasn't until I was 27 freaking years old that I knew how they got sine, cosine and tangent without a calculator (I'm not talking soh cah toa either, I'm talking about drawing out a unit circle with a protractor and such). I had not one teacher in high school who could tell me that. The closest answer I got was "back before calculators we used look up tables"). Trig and physics would have been a million times easier if I'd of known how to do things the right way. /rant

 

[kolax]

I think a cellphone is almost an essential part of modern life. And banning it in a school isn't right. As long as the student isn't texting people during class, then what's the harm. The advantages of a student carrying a cellphone in high school outweigh the potential distraction - their parents have a direct connection to their kid (useful for the walk home from school perhaps).

I was at high school when mobile phones were starting to take off, and teachers just didn't know how to patrol it all. Most would be tolerant and confiscate it for the duration of that class without punishment, and that was only if you were caught using it (i.e. texting) during class. Some would take drastic measures to confiscate it for the whole day with a punishment of lines ("I will not bring my phone to school.. x 200").

My high school never banned the use of MP3 players (unless you were listening during class), so you could freely walk around the grounds with headphones in during break/lunch.

I don't think high school students need to be bringing laptops and iPads to school if the school's equipment is sufficient. Aside from the school's worry that someone might steal/damage it, it also is a distraction. Someone who has the latest and greatest iPad will only distract other students who want a shot.

Guess schools are slow to adopt technology because most of the teachers are technology illiterate. They think that because the current system works ok, there's no reason to invest in newer and better methods. Some probably still refuse to use Over-Head-Projectors and write on the blackboard instead! The principle is always going to side with the teachers on this issue, but good luck in debating your case!

 

[GoCubsGo]

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.

This is where I'd stand. I never thought twice about having a personal laptop in high school. College was actually different for me. I was a pretty heavy note taker and having the ability to type was key. If I had an iPad back then it would have been so much better. Even still, I was a minority in college with my laptop up until my 3rd year.

I don't think kids in high school need personal laptops.

 

[applefan289]

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!

Well, the only good I could see coming from that would be no Wi-Fi radiation in the classroom, which allegedly some people are sensitive to.

 

[KiraDouji]

• 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.

Say that. Seriously. Best argument I've read on this thread.

If you can't be distracted by getting online, the grand majority of people who want to use their laptops will then be doing so to take notes, etc...

Also, they can restrict their technology budget if they can assume a percentage of the student body will have their own access to computers. That's always a favorite in public schools.

Frankly, given the break down you provided, I'm kind of surprised they took them away at all.

As for the cell phone bit - I'd be really PISSED, as a parent, to have my kid's cell phone taken away. Blah blah, we got by for years without, them, etc... Shove it. We got by for millennia without ball point pens and erasers; that doesn't mean I won't use them NOW! Same with cell phones. I would rather know I can get in touch with them at any time. Period.

Ugh.

----------

Have you mentioned Open DNS to the administration?

The ability to make a blacklist of sites should they ever decide to put in a wifi network?

People in power love to be in control, after all.

 

[Andeavor]

As for the cell phone bit - I'd be really PISSED, as a parent, to have my kid's cell phone taken away. Blah blah, we got by for years without, them, etc... Shove it. We got by for millennia without ball point pens and erasers; that doesn't mean I won't use them NOW! Same with cell phones. I would rather know I can get in touch with them at any time. Period.

Frankly, parents who get pissed when their spoiled brats' cell phones are taken away can shove it. Cell phones are a privilege, not a necessity.

Same goes for computers and internet access. If you start relying on those you could just as well get rid of the teachers or the school itself. To this day, I regret having heavily relied on calculators to do simple math for me because the convenience prevented me from developing that skill. And since I've exclusively started using my computer to write things down I've lost my ability to write legibly.