20 years ago, technology in the classroom was unheard of. Today, it is detrimental for the wireless internet at Hastings High to go out for even an hour. It would be even worse for students and teachers to not have extremely reliable laptops.
A typical 85-minute class period at HHS consists of some lecturing, note taking, that one kid in the back who always falls asleep, and laptop-based education. Most teachers integrate the school-provided Macbook Airs into their classes everyday. In fact, there are a few who heavily rely on the relatively new devices for their curriculum.
In a random polling of five teachers, four of them require students to use their laptops every day. The other teacher can’t commit to saying her students open them for educational purposes everyday, but they are used at least twice a week.
“I can’t remember a day this year where we haven’t used laptops,” social studies teacher Pete Theoharis said.
The most common uses of the laptops include teachers sharing homework via Google Drive and Google Classroom, various research activities, Gmail, and the all time student favorite, Kahoot. Because 80 percent of teachers base entire lesson plans around the Macbook Airs, it halts teaching when the internet becomes slow, even for a couple of hours.
This is why the possibility of new and potentially inferior laptops has students and teachers alike concerned. But is it true? Is new technology in store for the school?
Kind of. HHS had a four year lease with Apple for the Macbook Airs, which ended in September.
“We made the last payment in September, however we have until the summer to decide if we want to renew it,” Hastings Public Schools Director of Technology Trent Kelly said.
Because this type of technology has become so vital to our education, HHS will have some type of laptop next year. It just might not be Macbook Airs. Kelly has been looking around at other possible options, including chromebooks.
“Our Apple laptops haven’t presented any major problems, beside physical damage caused by students. They have worked well for us, so I would say I’m about 98 percent sure we will keep the same laptops for the next four years,” Kelly said.
The Airs have kept up with inevitably rowdy students pretty well, and the administrators are impressed with the performance and durability of the model.
Each summer, the laptops are evaluated and tested to see if they can last another year. In totality, only roughly 100 new laptops have been purchased out of the 1000 originally purchased.
Additionally, there haven’t been any huge improvements to computer processors in the past three or four years, which is one of the main reasons why HHS is planning to keep the laptops everyone is already familiar with.
“Because there haven’t been any major changes, I’m going to say that there is a major chance that the Macbooks will work for us for another few years. If we decide that they can’t, we will begin looking to work with Apple or even different vendors,” Kelly said.
Another thing Kelly is keeping in mind is the price comparisons.
“If you were to go purchase a Macbook Air, the cost would be around $1,100. However keep in mind that we purchased 1,000 of them. So I believe the cost was $860 per laptop. So that’s a great deal,” Kelly said.
In contrast, there would be a major monetary benefit if the school switched models.
“Chromebooks have come a long way, and they can be purchased for as low as $199. But we wouldn’t go with any in the $200 range because the battery life on those in particular are very poor. If we went with chromebooks, you’re probably in the $350 range, so yeah, it’s a significant savings,” Kelly said.
One thing for students to keep in mind is that the $30 fee they must pay at the beginning of each school year for their laptop would be reduced if HHS purchased cheaper laptops. Part of the reason for that is because all of the parts of Apple products (for the most part) are simply more expensive than their counterparts. So even though there would be a world of changes for students, they wouldn’t all be negative.
Although students probably won’t end up having an opinion on whether or not the Macbooks make a reappearance next year, they will have some type of critical input.
“We didn’t specifically ask students ‘Do you want Apples or chromebooks?’ a few years ago when we bought the Macbooks, but they did take part in a survey about the durability and how well the laptops were working as a whole. So I mean, teachers might be asked but no, students probably will not be asked about which brand we go with,” Kelly said.
The reason for this is a fourth of the students haven’t been able to spend much time with their laptops, because they are freshmen. Kelly said that the upperclassmen would most likely provide valuable information concerning brands. Ultimately, as far as Kelly knows, students will not be approached about that in particular.
Also, there might be some good luck in store for Hastings Middle School students.
“If we end up with new laptops, the current ones will probably be repurposed, and given to HMS. That’s what I like about Apple, that you can get five or seven years out of them very easily. With Windows or other brands, you won’t get that same life expectancy,” Kelly said.
Hastings High has seen a ton of technological progress in only the past four years. Kelly said that he would walk past classrooms after the laptops were implemented and see signs that read, “NO laptops!” This seems like a world of difference, considering today’s lack of physical textbooks, and our quick shift to online textbooks.
Students shouldn’t worry, because it looks like the Macbook Airs are here to stay.
