Slashdot Mirror
On the Problems with Laptops in School?
resistor2004 asks: "My school has recently implemented a program of issuing laptops to all students from 7th grade through highschool seniors, and providing a massive 802.11b network across the campus. As you can imagine, it's a serious nightmare for the IT department. Apart from the usual run of broken laptops we have had a major problem with students usign email during class. Is there any effective way to allow the teacher to monitor the student's activity from his/her own laptop? Some of our teachers have come up with creative methods like installing mirrors in the back of the classroom so that they can see the students' screens, but a method that could be performed on the laptop would be even better." Might VNC be a potential solution to this problem. I would think that with a few creative scripts, and a working VNC client, a teacher can pop up a window to see what students are doing on their school-provided computers. Can you think of other ways teachers may be able to monitor students laptop use in-class to insure that they are at least not horsing around when they should be learning?
Server-centric, but why not block access to the e-mail server for the student accounts during class hours?
I'm sure you could knock together a script that reads the timetable and determines where each student is meant to be.
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
It seems to me, in a classroom, the last thing these kids need is another distraction. Yeah, technology is great and all, but come on. With the direction that the educational system in the US has been going, it seems like having kids staring at the blackboard is a better method. If you need a laptop for school, limit it to being used in study hall and interactive classes.
If it ain't a Model M, it's a piece of crap.
What's wrong with the non-technical solution (mirrors)? It doesn't have that "21st century appeal" but is there really anything wrong with it? Your IT department is already burdened with the chore of keeping all of this new crap working, so if teachers can solve this problem with mirrors, I say let them.
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer
My school has recently implemented a program of issuing pencils and paper to all students from 7th grade through high school seniors. As you can imagine, it's a serious nightmare. Apart from the usual run of broken pencils, we have a major problem with students writing notes to each other during class. Is there any effective way to allow the teacher to monitor what students are writing from his/her desk at the front of the class? Some of our teachers have come up with creative solutions like hanging video cameras above each student's desk, but a method which could be performed on the paper itself would be even better.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
"Put the laptop under your chair during class, or take an F."
.).
A laptop is a tool (and a toy). It is a tool that has NOTHING to do with learning from someone who is standing in front of you.
The only possible use would be taking notes. Is it condusive to a lecture to have 20-30 students all typing at the same time? Is there anything more than a marginal benefit over the students using a paper notebook?
I think you have made yourself a problem, and that the best solution is to STOP making that problem for yourself (doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this . .
-Peter