Does a high-school kid really need a laptop in order to get an education? I think computers are great, but I don't believe the tax-payers should be funding expensive laptops to be given free of charge to these students.
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
Thousand Dollar Laptops?
While everyone is outraged about the Merion School District in Pennsylvania "spying" on kids, my question is, "why is the school supplying kids with $1000.00 laptops?" 2,620 laptops were handed out - you do the math. In an apparently very wealthy school district the computers were paid for with district budget money and some grant money. Maybe the parents should be purchasing the laptops they are clearly able to afford.
Does a high-school kid really need a laptop in order to get an education? I think computers are great, but I don't believe the tax-payers should be funding expensive laptops to be given free of charge to these students.
Does a high-school kid really need a laptop in order to get an education? I think computers are great, but I don't believe the tax-payers should be funding expensive laptops to be given free of charge to these students.
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I would certainly take your point on the school handing out laptops. Even as a computer geek I find it dubious the extent computers are being used in education and to their effectiveness. There is certainly a place in education for organizing note taking and in computer aided learning - the question is how effectively are they using the new tools.
As for the price these are MacBooks and would be a good deal for school use. After a lifetime of Windows and PC Hardware I have now found that Macs last and are well constructed for heavy use while most laptops start to fall apart with only a year of use. My MacBook Pro which is older than my Work Dell Laptop is in much better shape and looks new - while the Dell is already showing problems externally. My daughter's high-end Sony VAIO already has its power connector detached and hanging by a wire. If a school was to buy a laptop the Aluminum unibody MacPro is worth the price - plus you don't have virus problems and administration of these machines is much easier for a school to maintain and in the long run more affordable.
First, laptops are rapidly becoming an essential component of education. Trust me on this. More and more educational tools are wired -- even textbooks come with companion webpages now -- with much essential material available only online. One can bewail this, and I do, but that is reality right now.
Second, the real outrage here, aside from the school district's spying, is the $1000 price tag. A very good laptop from a company like Dell, for example, costs less than $450. I know because I bought one. A netbook can be had for around $300. School districts get deals on top of that as well (almost all educational organizations do).
Adrienne, I agree with you. Computers bring with them an entire new set of issues and expense, but you already know that. hahaha
Our 16 year old twins go to a Catholic school which requires them to carry their personal computers with them at all times.(or they're fined 5.00 for each offense) Children don't carry books anymore. Imagine.... they have no school books and they email or print their work for their teachers.
The computers are 1,500 dollars a piece and suppose to last the entire 4 years.(this is another example of why I'm poor)
The daily grades are posted on line which includes every piece of work that had been turned in or missed so if your a control freak parent and your kid got a "D" on his/her math assignment this morning you'll know by lunch time. Some poor children can expect to get an ear beating or worse when they get home. (But not in my house) Reports and any future work that will be due is on line and it's a parental responsibility to check this or ride your kids rear so to speak and failure to do so makes you out to be a slacker parent. Particularly if your kid's disabled.
The school black boards are no longer regular boards they are white and linked to the teachers computer which they have to carry around as well.
I have access to instant messaging to my daughters and they can and have called me on ocassion to inform me of their pending after school specials or school detentions via the computer or they've used the telephones in their classrooms.
The school system has become so dependent upon these devices that I find it unsettling. What's going to happen if or when the lights ever go out? (an emf bomb) These people may not be able to function even on a primary level. Everyone knows how to works the electronic stuff but no one knows how to prepare a meal... I'm not kidding.
The teens are always playing a amusing game of cat and mouse with their technology teachers. Kids access things that were not authorized and the teachers try to catch them and restrain sites to view. One trick is to take out the batteries while the techonology teachers are commanding a thousand computers to do something.(all at the same time!) Now you have to have a red piece of tape visible over the battery or your in big touble. Guess whos winning the technology game?....naturally it's the students.
And big brother watches everybody.. but kids especially are use to it.
I'm kind of torn on the idea of giving out laptops to the kids. While I think it's an extravagance that most kids are not privy to, I can't be angry at a school district that is obviously doing well because their school is in a wealthy district. After all, the families who send their kids to that school are the ones paying the taxes on it (although they don't say where the grant came from....Federal, State, or Local).
There are some school districts who supply laptops to their teachers, my daughter worked for one of them.
I live in an area that some would consider a wealthy school district, and believe me, we pay through the nose on our taxes for our schools. I remember how angry I was when the high school my kids went to was built and Oprah Winfry and Jessie Jackson paid a visit to "tour" it and all we heard was how good our kids had it and how bad the inner city kids had it. Then they took a group of kids from a school in the inner city of Chicago and a group from our school and had them switch places for the week to prove their point.
I don't know what message they wanted to send...were the kids from our school supposed to feel guilty because they were living in a nice neighborhood with a good school? What were the kids supposed to do about it? I felt they were being used by the media and the liberal left to make their point and that's just wrong. I also thought it only further angered the kids from the inner city who also have no control over their situation.
I'm not sure if the school you mentioned had a school board meeting when the budget came along and this was voted on or not. Usually that's the case, however.
Of course, the whole thing about the principal using the computer to spy on the kids and having the ability to allow him to watch them and their family's is just sick and twisted.
IMO, yep they need laptops. This is the dawn of a new era with regards to technology, the PC will have at least as great an impact on civilization at the Guttenberg (sp?) Press.
Having said that, NO WAY and NO HOW should they provide laptops at taxpayer expense! These items are often marketed as "notebooks" and like their hard print counterparts they should be the sole responsibility of the parents to provide.
A grand for a laptop? I'm betting there are a lot of cheaper options available on the market, ones that lack all the unnecessary bells, lights & whistles of the webcam equipped specials featured in the original story.
Again, let the parents shoulder the cost and keep Uncle Sugar/Big Brother out of the mix.
"One trick is to take out the batteries while the techonology teachers are commanding a thousand computers to do something.(all at the same time!)"
LOL - that's insane.
And as...
written books becomes a quaint thing of the past.
longhand writing is a distant memory.
students quit do math equations on a sheet of scrap paper and rely on a calculator.
Our basic skills continue to erode.
Our children rely solely on computers. I love computers. I have a simple A.S. in Computer Information Systems and consider myself a geek with advanced skills. But... the more we rely on them the more vulnerable we become.
As far as computers go, they can't recognize context when it comes to writing and most of the drivel I read on message boards these days reminds me that no one knows what a spell checker is.
My point being if you can't/don't master the basics, how in the Hell is one going to be proficient in advanced activities? We need to teach our children the basic skills of Reading, writing and arithmetic first. And a good course on critical thinking would be great. Then maybe, just maybe they can be moved along to more complex issues. Haven't we learned anything from the Asians? American's today want to start at the top and then work their way up.
Adrienne, I agree w/you, no taxpayer dollars for laptops. But, I have to say, if my kids needed one for school, we'd have to go in debt to buy them one, that's how strapped things are for us. Grrr. I don't see why they "need" computers. Some of the textbooks are online and my 6th grader's English teacher insists they use ONLY Mirram Webster.com. Why not the dictionary??
Anyway, I've given you an award. It's over on my blog.
Something is always wrong, and everything must be changed.
The truth of the matter lies in the fact money is being spent on American chihdren. I am certain there is a former school administrator who is now selling Chinese made crap to the school district; thus the $1000.00+ cost for each $50.00 computer.
(those $2500.00 televisions cost $100.00 to manufacture).
I like it when Americans benefit from the fruits of their labor. Its about time.
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Society, in general, has gone to hell in a handbasket. No morality, fewer and fewer good public role models, kids having to have certain clothing and cyber-equipment to keep up with their friends and now, school, parents buying more and more electronics to keep kiddies busy so they don't have to deal with them, where does all the money go? We are beyond rapair. I concur with Greasywench ...
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