SHS students, teachers benefit from laptop computers
By Jermaine Pigee, Daily Gazette, Sterling, Ill. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
She has a green silicone case that protects her computer and a green keyboard cover that protects her keys when she types.
"Green is my favorite color," said Shaw, a 16-year-old junior at
At the beginning of the school year, all students at
Students are able to use the computers at home and at school.
They are allowed to add protection to their computers, as long as nothing is placed directly on the laptop surface.
Five weeks into the school year, Principal
He says tardies are down at school and students seem more eager to get to their next class.
"Kids are more engaged in class, and they are looking forward to using their devices," Austin said. "The hallways empty out before class earlier than they did last year."
Other than a couple of issues with sound, Austin reported no major problems.
Although the computers are lent to the students at no charge, families are being asked to pay
Students who choose not to pay the
If the computers are damaged because of negligence or irresponsible behavior, families will have to replace them, regardless of the insurance.
Pornography and social media sites will be blocked by the web-filtering system iBoss.
Students are not punished for sites they visit at home.
"iBoss will scan the kids' search history," Austin said. "If there are a bunch of red flags, we are not going to punish a child for what they did at home. We will just let parents know."
Teachers at
"We can use technology to supplement what we are doing instead of having to go to a computer lab or somewhere else," said
Engstrom also said the students have been really good with their computers.
"They have not abused their privileges," she said,
"I make videos of myself, explain the lesson, and the students listen to it and take notes from home," he said. "They come back here and they start working on the assignments."
On Wednesday, the students were split into small groups. They were able to work on the assignments while Rivera was available to help them.
"Instead of the students doing the assignments at home and figuring out how to do it, they have three people in their groups helping them, and they have a teacher in the classroom," Rivera said. "They view the videos online from home, and they do their homework in the classroom."
Students also said having a computer is a benefit in the classroom.
"A lot of times, the teachers put the class notes online," Shaw said. "We can go back through them if we have questions."
"It definitely makes projects easier," he said. "Most of our assignments are web based, and if you have Internet access, you are able to locate what you need to know about the assignment."
Austin said computers that had been in the computer labs have been recycled for use in elementary schools.
"Some people don't have computer access at home," he said, "and now that we have computers, we are able to work on projects at home and here."
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