By Jake Piersol
Students frequently use computers, often for homework, taking notes, or online Zoom classes. Computers and other forms of technology have been beneficial tools, including in IHS, where each student obtains an Acer Chromebook. However, the school Chromebooks have often received criticism as unreliable, and many students want to be able to use their better personal computers.
At IHS, there is a consensus that our Chromebooks are not the fastest computers. They are glitchy and slow, creating a terrible situation for doing schoolwork. Expressing his distress with the faults of the school Chromebooks, 9th-grade student John Laver said, “I’m tired of waiting 5 minutes just for one tab to load.” Oliver van der Spuy, a freshman, agreed with this as well. Oliver said, “My Chromebook has always been terrible… there is always something wrong with it.” The computers are not allowing students to do their best work.
Transferring work, pictures, or other paramount documents also values the use of home computers. School Chromebooks can’t receive emails from accounts outside our school. Work completed on non-Irvington accounts cannot be exchanged, potentially causing a disturbance for students attempting to complete their assignments. Therefore, switching between accounts is a hassle.
On the other hand, the school monitors, and needs to monitor, the Irvington-issued Chromebooks. Students can only access certain sites, and GoGuardian has been implemented to monitor students’ activities to ensure focus. Despite this, I believe that the benefits of using personal devices, including less time to complete work and more reliability, outweigh these negatives .
Ultimately, bringing personal computers to school would have a positive impact. Teachers could go through lessons faster and easier, and students would have an easier time completing classwork. Students should be allowed to bring their personal computers to school.
Be First to Comment