I have been using OpenOffice and the OpenDocument format since it was available and have never had a problem... After a lot of discussion, the school where I teach (I'm the CIS teacher) is going to OpenOffice and the OpenDocument format this year- it's an international standard and 15 years from now we will still be able to open those documents created this year. (We store a lot of student records in digital form. And the discussion was whether to go OOo AND Linux this year. We're going Linux next year... ) An example... my wife wanted to open a set of Word documents created in an earlier version of Word using Office 2003- no luck. I had to set up a computer with an older version of Word, and then save them to a "newer" old version so Word 2003 could convert them. And this isn't the first time I have had to do that. Need I say more?
This is another one of these issues that one the surface can become extremely emotional and, on one side, you have the "they are taking my rights away... they are taking my privacy away" group which usually reduces its arguments to sound bites. But the truth is really far different.
The high school where I teach allows students to possess and use their cell phones during passing time, before and after school while on school property, during lunch, etc. However, they are not allowed to even take them out during class. The first time I simply tell them to put the phone away. If they refuse or it is a second instance, I confiscate the phone for the day and enter a discipline note. On the third instance we can bar the student from having any cell phone in their possession while on school grounds and can suspend them for three days.
The cell phone excuses are as varied as the students- "I am checking the time" (I have a clock on the wall)... "I am talking to my mom... my Grandpa is in the hospital" (Hardly, when you are talking about getting your hair and nails done...) "It's an emergency" (Okay, whoever it is can call the office and get a message to you as stated in the student handbook)... Or there is the ubiquitous claim of free speech that either stands by itself or is attached to any of the various excuses.
The free speech argument is moot.
In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the Supreme Court decided that "conduct by the student, in class or out of it, which for any reason - whether it stems from time, place, or type of behavior - materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others is, of course, not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech."
But the other principle at work is called "in loco parentis" which holds that in certain situations, school being one, the entity- in this case the school- assumes the role of the parent while the student is in school. And, yes, students who are over the age of 18 or who turn 18 before they graduate, implicitly agree to be bound by this when they enroll.
This principle has been upheld over time. New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) upheld the search of lockers and other personal space while on school property, indicating that students are not afforded the same rights as adults in other settings and stating that while acting in loco parentis, school officials are still representatives of the state. In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1987) the Supreme Court ruled that "First Amendment rights of students in the public schools are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings, and must be applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment."
When we (as faculty) confiscate a phone, if the student wants to remove the battery or the card that's fine- we are not interested in going through the phone, we are interested in stopping the disruptive behavior. However, if we have reason to believe that there is something untoward going on, we certainly follow up. Do school administrators in Framingham have the responsibility and the right to do what they are doing? Probably, if the student action "materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder" and they have substantial reason to believe the cell phone use is part of that.
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I have been using OpenOffice and the OpenDocument format since it was available and have never had a problem... After a lot of discussion, the school where I teach (I'm the CIS teacher) is going to OpenOffice and the OpenDocument format this year- it's an international standard and 15 years from now we will still be able to open those documents created this year. (We store a lot of student records in digital form. And the discussion was whether to go OOo AND Linux this year. We're going Linux next year... ) An example... my wife wanted to open a set of Word documents created in an earlier version of Word using Office 2003- no luck. I had to set up a computer with an older version of Word, and then save them to a "newer" old version so Word 2003 could convert them. And this isn't the first time I have had to do that. Need I say more?
This is another one of these issues that one the surface can become extremely emotional and, on one side, you have the "they are taking my rights away... they are taking my privacy away" group which usually reduces its arguments to sound bites. But the truth is really far different. The high school where I teach allows students to possess and use their cell phones during passing time, before and after school while on school property, during lunch, etc. However, they are not allowed to even take them out during class. The first time I simply tell them to put the phone away. If they refuse or it is a second instance, I confiscate the phone for the day and enter a discipline note. On the third instance we can bar the student from having any cell phone in their possession while on school grounds and can suspend them for three days. The cell phone excuses are as varied as the students- "I am checking the time" (I have a clock on the wall)... "I am talking to my mom... my Grandpa is in the hospital" (Hardly, when you are talking about getting your hair and nails done...) "It's an emergency" (Okay, whoever it is can call the office and get a message to you as stated in the student handbook)... Or there is the ubiquitous claim of free speech that either stands by itself or is attached to any of the various excuses. The free speech argument is moot. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the Supreme Court decided that "conduct by the student, in class or out of it, which for any reason - whether it stems from time, place, or type of behavior - materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others is, of course, not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech." But the other principle at work is called "in loco parentis" which holds that in certain situations, school being one, the entity- in this case the school- assumes the role of the parent while the student is in school. And, yes, students who are over the age of 18 or who turn 18 before they graduate, implicitly agree to be bound by this when they enroll. This principle has been upheld over time. New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) upheld the search of lockers and other personal space while on school property, indicating that students are not afforded the same rights as adults in other settings and stating that while acting in loco parentis, school officials are still representatives of the state. In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1987) the Supreme Court ruled that "First Amendment rights of students in the public schools are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings, and must be applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment." When we (as faculty) confiscate a phone, if the student wants to remove the battery or the card that's fine- we are not interested in going through the phone, we are interested in stopping the disruptive behavior. However, if we have reason to believe that there is something untoward going on, we certainly follow up. Do school administrators in Framingham have the responsibility and the right to do what they are doing? Probably, if the student action "materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder" and they have substantial reason to believe the cell phone use is part of that.