My husband and I both teach in middle school here in Maine and having the laptops has been wonderful. We are able to do so many things with the kids that would be completely impossible without the computers. Many of my tests and quizzes are completely based on a website, which the kids enjoy and the automatic grading helps me a lot. I will be traveling to 3 schools each week this coming school year to teach 8th graders, and the laptops will help me keep in touch with, give academic help, and grade, all of the students remotely MUCH easier.
Just thought I'd share this because this is one of the few things that I am proud of in our public education system here in Maine!
I'm going into 8th grade, and, while I would like computers to be more effective the classroom, I don't believe that technology should take over conventional teaching practices. The teachers get benefits and get paid well. Technology should not take over that job. And while it may be helping "save trees", it sure means a lot more money goes into the laptops, if they are Macbooks, which are about $2000, and each student in the grade gets one, and there are about 80 students in the grade, then that is $160,000. And obviously, that money comes from the taxpayers paying property tax, and while there may be some benefits, the downsides give much to worry about. What if something happens to the computers? What is they all get infected? Is the school going to pay more money to get new ones or repair them? And what about the teachers? They will have to write quizzes now, and, since they are accustomed to not writing quizzes test exams etc, will it be of good quality?
I don't think school systems are ready to do this.
In our schools, technology definitely has not taken away conventional teaching practices (which in some cases are suspect anyway), but rather enhanced them. Middle school teachers here in ME have already had 7 years to form their curriculum with integrated technology. This program has been tried in other states, but has only been successful in ME for some reason. The schools get white MBs, usually with lower specs than are offered on the website, and at a much lower, bulk-rate cost. Yes, a lot of money goes into the computers and their upkeep, but no matter how much money we put into the public education system (whether it be for technology or teacher pay) it is still way behind the rest of the world. So the issue really isn't the money, or the technology, that leads to poor education, but rather the philosophy behind public education. Short of having a huge society-large change in a pedagogical philosophy, the laptop program here has improved educational experiences for the students.
Mac Specs: White MacBook. iLife '08. iWork '08. Mac OS X 10.5.7
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Originally Posted by BlueMac
I'm going into 8th grade, and, while I would like computers to be more effective the classroom, I don't believe that technology should take over conventional teaching practices. The teachers get benefits and get paid well. Technology should not take over that job. And while it may be helping "save trees", it sure means a lot more money goes into the laptops, if they are Macbooks, which are about $2000, and each student in the grade gets one, and there are about 80 students in the grade, then that is $160,000. And obviously, that money comes from the taxpayers paying property tax, and while there may be some benefits, the downsides give much to worry about. What if something happens to the computers? What is they all get infected? Is the school going to pay more money to get new ones or repair them? And what about the teachers? They will have to write quizzes now, and, since they are accustomed to not writing quizzes test exams etc, will it be of good quality?
I don't think school systems are ready to do this.
Really? I'm going into 8th grade too! Yippee! My school (Oakland School for the Arts) gives laptops to 11th and 12th graders, however up until last year it is grades 9-12.
For us, it doesn't take over conventional practices, but students can take notes on their laptop, use them for homework, etc. It really enhances the classroom experience!
Really? I'm going into 8th grade too! Yippee! My school (Oakland School for the Arts) gives laptops to 11th and 12th graders, however up until last year it is grades 9-12.
For us, it doesn't take over conventional practices, but students can take notes on their laptop, use them for homework, etc. It really enhances the classroom experience!
You guys are seriously spoiled. >_<" I didn't have a laptop/notebook until I graduated High School.
Unfortunately many of the students I work with have really become spoiled with the laptops. They EXPECT to have the laptops, and believe they are entitled to them.... in some cases the laptops can really become an issue. But for the most part the good outweighs the bad, I guess.
Unfortunately many of the students I work with have really become spoiled with the laptops. They EXPECT to have the laptops, and believe they are entitled to them.... in some cases the laptops can really become an issue. But for the most part the good outweighs the bad, I guess.
Do you have WiFi around the school? I would find that a bit distracting if the students were IMing each other in class, or checking their facebook accounts.
I can see that being an issue. That and visiting websites that are not appropriate. >_>" I'm sure the school would have some kind of measures against that.
I'm going into 8th grade, and, while I would like computers to be more effective the classroom, I don't believe that technology should take over conventional teaching practices. The teachers get benefits and get paid well. Technology should not take over that job. And while it may be helping "save trees", it sure means a lot more money goes into the laptops, if they are Macbooks, which are about $2000, and each student in the grade gets one, and there are about 80 students in the grade, then that is $160,000. And obviously, that money comes from the taxpayers paying property tax, and while there may be some benefits, the downsides give much to worry about. What if something happens to the computers? What is they all get infected? Is the school going to pay more money to get new ones or repair them? And what about the teachers? They will have to write quizzes now, and, since they are accustomed to not writing quizzes test exams etc, will it be of good quality?
I don't think school systems are ready to do this.
In case you are unaware, Macbooks rarely get "infected", and if they went so far as to abandon textbooks (very expensive) for digital copies, it may not be such a loss as you would think. Also, for the matter of them breaking... *cough* extended applecare warranty *cough*
For us, it doesn't take over conventional practices, but students can take notes on their laptop, use them for homework, etc. It really enhances the classroom experience!
I'd really rather write my notes/ do my homework by hand. I don't want to stare at a computer screen all day in school, I spend enough time at home doing that.
As Crimson said, students in schools that hand out laptops are ridiculously spoiled. I own a laptop, but only because it was my dad's that he used for work, but doesn't need anymore, so he let me have it. Otherwise I would not have a computer.
I use my computer for school sometimes too don't get me wrong, but that's not in the classroom. And work on the computer is only done when necessary, for example, if I need to type up a paper or do some other thing like that. What would happen if, your computer crashed? The HD was wiped and all your files are gone?
And someone said Mac's rarely get infected so no need to worry about that. Well, that is ignorant. Don't assume, "Oh I'm a Mac user, I don't need to worry about those viruses!". Well, what happens when the day a Mac virus DOES show up?
Crimson also made another good point, that the kids might be doing other activities like IMing, checking Facebook etc. Yeah sure the school might put barriers against them, but be real, the kids will find ways to get around them.
As Crimson said, students in schools that hand out laptops are ridiculously spoiled. I own a laptop, but only because it was my dad's that he used for work, but doesn't need anymore, so he let me have it. Otherwise I would not have a computer.
Well even if I did have a notebook, I wouldn't have brought it to school. Got my Ti-83 Plus Calculator stolen twice. They were pretty expensive too..around 250 dollars at the time.
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Crimson also made another good point, that the kids might be doing other activities like IMing, checking Facebook etc. Yeah sure the school might put barriers against them, but be real, the kids will find ways to get around them.
Yeah the kids definitely do get around the blocks and use proxy servers, etc. I'm one of the more "tech savvy" teachers (since I'm also one of the youngest) so I catch them pretty often. We are required to do random and frequent history checks (yes, they can delete their histories, but if they do they get their laptops taken away). If they are on non-educational sites, have cleared histories, etc., there are penalties. I work in a fairly rural area, and my husband works in a bigger city, and there is definitely a difference in our kids. My kids hardly take advantage of the computers (or to any significantly bad, or evil, extent). However, my husband's kids routinely break the rules. Don't know why there is a difference, but I am definitely spoiled with the school that I work at.
We do have wi-fi everywhere in our school. As a Spanish language/culture teacher, I have to say the laptops have been awesome. In rural Maine you hardly see anyone that is from another culture, so having the internet and the computers has really opened their eyes to many things.
You guys are seriously spoiled. >_<" I didn't have a laptop/notebook until I graduated High School.
lol....i didn't have a desktop until after graduating high school. and then the laptops weighed about 15 pounds and were slower than grass growing. i remember when i was 15 everyone in my high school was trying to be cool by getting the funky colored pagers and spray painting their huge laptops so they could be like the guys in the movie Hackers.
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