Quote of the day...

egan007

IBEC Spokesman Brendan Butler said making laptops available to all pupils would be a sensible move as young people are already very computer literate.

He said "it would also eliminate the need for school books and school bags."

:rolleyes:

Personally i think it's currently impossible to read books from a computer screen...


source: http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/08/31/story218564.html

JungleBunny

What a clever thing to say :rolleyes:

vibe666

see my sig. don't think the statement was magic.
[align=right]13.16.137.11[/align]

Ann Elk

egan007 wrote:

Personally i think it's currently impossible to read books from a computer screen...


source: http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/08/31/story218564.html

Its pretty hard to lug books and pencil cases around in your laptop as well !!

Nuttzz

Dear Mr O'Brien,

Little Nuttzz was unable to do his homework last night as his father was using the laptop to finish that bleedin report/play championship manager until 3am/download music from the net/surfing for porn (delete where applicable)

Sincerely

Mrs Nuttzz

BossArky

Clever ploy by the dept. of education, they realised dogs don't eat laptops.

whiskeyman

Teacher : "Where's your homework!!!"

Pupil : "Sorry miss, the dog ate my laptop"


(aargh.. just bet me to it BossArky!)

Mutant_Fruit

whiskeyman wrote:

Teacher : "Where's your homework!!!"

Pupil : "Sorry miss, the dog ate my laptop"


(aargh.. just bet me to it BossArky!)

Heh heh heh, genious! I'm in college, we got subsidised laptops (read: €1000 off :P) and there is not a chance in hell that i'd choose a laptop over proper books. Laptops are much better for writing text-only reports. Try doing maths on one and you'll find yourself about ready to beat the laptop off a wall after 5 minutes.

Laptops (currently) cannot replace schoolbooks, especially A4 copies. I could never live with them!

Ann Elk

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Try doing maths on one and you'll find yourself about ready to beat the laptop off a wall after 5 minutes.

Laptops (currently) cannot replace schoolbooks, especially A4 copies. I could never live with them!

I heartily agree - it's pretty hard to tear off little pieces of laptop, chew them up and spit them at your mates through a biro! (Unless of coures you happen to be Mr Mangetout)

whiskeyman

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Laptops (currently) cannot replace schoolbooks, especially A4 copies. I could never live with them!

Agreed...
It will turn that generation computer literate alright, but it will probably make them illiterate.
Paper has been around thousands of years, and it isnt just going to get phased out over a few years.
Moronic statement by IBEC spokesperson IMO

Jim

I reckon some sort of tablet style touch screen would be better suited than laptops.

whiskeyman

They should place buzzers in each of the desks too.
Ya know.... when teacher asks a question, there wont be a flurry of:
"oh, sir sir sir sir sir ..sssssssssssssssssiiiirrrrrrrrrr!!!!! sir sir sir!!" and strained arms as students try and get noticed".
It'll be fastest finger first who gets to answer...

BossArky

Teacher: "Why is your spelling so bad in this exercise?"

Student: "Sorry Miss, the dog chewed the "p", "q", and "a" keys off my keyboard"

BizzyC

Who's going to pay for the laptop?

The government?
Teacher: John, where's your laptop?
John: It got nicked again. Ignore me new sovereign ring, and order me another laptop...

Parents?
I dont see parents willing to fork out €1000, instead of the €100 books and copies cost.

Zapho

think of the mass piracy, it would spiral out of control!

Yup I would have to agree that its a rubbish idea. Now, having a few pcs or linux boxs in the class room is a different story entirely!

BossArky

Hold on a second, has anyone thought of how to handle the future malnourished dog populations?

28064212

egan007 wrote:

Personally i think it's currently impossible to read books from a computer screen...

I don't get it, why not?

BizzyC wrote:

Who's going to pay for the laptop?

Department of Education/Schools. I would imagine it would run something like:

• School with 500 capacity gets 500 laptops
• Books needed, software etc gets installed
• Every student gets a laptop
• When current final year students finish, their laptops get passed on to incoming first years
• Presumably, every student is responsible for their laptop and is liable for any damage

At the moment, not particularly feasible, and would require a massive investment, but definitely an interesting idea. It's not like the laptops would need to be upgraded every year, they're not going to be used for playing games. Obviously security would need to be tight with regard to virii etc, but still do-able.

BizzyC wrote:

Parents?
I dont see parents willing to fork out €1000, instead of the €100 books and copies cost.

€100? where do you go to school? For a JC year, nearly 15 subjects, new books on average €30? And presumably the €1000 would cover your full 5/6 years. Would not be that much more expensive

whiskeyman wrote:

It will turn that generation computer literate alright, but it will probably make them illiterate.

Easy solution: Spellchecker hooked up to electrodes implanted in the chair. Submit something with errors, get a shock. Using any form of text speak, automatic 20,000 volt shock. You'll get used to the burning smell.

Ann Elk

Not sure if this is going a little off topic but the Dept. of education do decide to go down that route especially with regards to exams, how will things pan out with regards to typing speeds? Will all schools have to give typing classes, and would everyone have to be up to a minimum standard to avoid unfair advantages?

I ask because i'd heard that in some US universities they are switching to laptops for exams - if they did that i'd be goosed my typing slow, slow, slow (i started this post in 1876) - surely those with good typing skills would have a huge advantage??

BossArky

Reading heavily from a laptop screen is pretty bad for the eyesight. Better off with a decent monitor, or better still print out the docs. I've spent the past few months trawling through documentation and the likes for work and my noticed that my eyes are killing me by the end of the day. I wouldn't recommend kids squinting at small laptop screens the whole time.

I cannot imagine schools allowing kids to take the laptops home... imagine the amount that would be stolen / damaged / abused. This means families would each need some sort of home computing. That wouldn't be common place for a good few years.

Dave!

whiskeyman wrote:

They should place buzzers in each of the desks too.
Ya know.... when teacher asks a question, there wont be a flurry of:
"oh, sir sir sir sir sir ..sssssssssssssssssiiiirrrrrrrrrr!!!!! sir sir sir!!" and strained arms as students try and get noticed".
It'll be fastest finger first who gets to answer...

It'll improve everyone's reactions; I can see us benefiting from it already! :cool:

nesf

Ann Elk wrote:

Not sure if this is going a little off topic but the Dept. of education do decide to go down that route especially with regards to exams, how will things pan out with regards to typing speeds? Will all schools have to give typing classes, and would everyone have to be up to a minimum standard to avoid unfair advantages?

I ask because i'd heard that in some US universities they are switching to laptops for exams - if they did that i'd be goosed my typing slow, slow, slow (i started this post in 1876) - surely those with good typing skills would have a huge advantage??

Believe me, if you had to type constantly your typing would improve

That and it's a very useful skill to have these days. Although, I can't see the Irish Uni's switching for ages and if they did they'd probably give people the option of writing for the first few years since there would be a huge disparity in typing speeds and skills.

nesf

28064212 wrote:

€100? where do you go to school? For a JC year, nearly 15 subjects, new books on average €30? And presumably the €1000 would cover your full 5/6 years.

Eh? Do you think that eBooks are free or something? All the books/eBooks would need to be paid for ontop of the laptop, thus making it more expensive.

egan007

28064212 wrote:

I don't get it, why not?.

Sore eyes!
Black text on paper absorbs light while the white background reflects light
This is why your eyes are comfortable reading a book.

On a computer screen both colours are reflecting -because they are both lights.
Your eyes have a hard time daling with is as they can't relax.

Remember the DEPT of education is YOU the tax payer.
Plus remember 100'000 laptops = a HUGE maintainence bill
This is in a country that pupils are crying out for decent school buildings

Goodshape

nesf wrote:

Eh? Do you think that eBooks are free or something?

They could be.

28064212

nesf wrote:

Eh? Do you think that eBooks are free or something? All the books/eBooks would need to be paid for ontop of the laptop, thus making it more expensive.

True, but I don't think that publishers could justify charging the same price, given that they wouldn't have the same overheads. It would be more expensive, but in terms of education it would be worth it IMO. Also, like I said, I reckon the Dept of Education would have to provide the laptops.

As for typing speeds, there can be a pretty big disparity between writing speeds as well. If you started typing in first year, every day, the standard would pretty quickly level out.

With regard to students bringing laptops home, it's a difficult situation, but making the students (and their parents) liable would cut down a lot. Also very harsh penalties for repeat offenders (we're talking 3 offences and you're expelled). I accept that it could be damaged accidently, in which case it wouldn't count as a strike, but you would still have to pay for repairs. Any "lost" laptops would be grounds for a major suspension at least.

Eyesight v monitors, has it been proven that it's bad? The only thing I've heard from research is a slight increase in the possibility of glaucoma, which can be easily tested for and stopped. Yearly tests would be compulsory if they were using it in schools. With a semi-decent resolution, I can't see a major problem

28064212

egan007 wrote:

Remember the DEPT of education is YOU the tax payer.
Plus remember 100'000 laptops = a HUGE maintainence bill
This is in a country that pupils are crying out for decent school buildings

Like I said, not really feasible at the moment, but has potential.

28064212

egan007 wrote:

Sore eyes!
Black text on paper absorbs light while the white background reflects light
This is why your eyes are comfortable reading a book.

On a computer screen both colours are reflecting -because they are both lights.
Your eyes have a hard time daling with is as they can't relax.

I regularly read books directly from the screen using MS Reader, and haven't noticed any soreness. I can't believe it could be that hard to get around.

BizzyC

What happens when laptops go missing? Do they supply the student a new one?

The lad could be selling them off.
Even if they made them specifically for schools, and had a unique look, he could still sell of processors, memory etc.

The scheme would be nothing but trouble.
What they should do, is give every student a PC instead. In the class-room obviously, and let them print off anything they need to do homework/study.

Ann Elk

egan007 wrote:

Sore eyes!
Black text on paper absorbs light while the white background reflects light
This is why your eyes are comfortable reading a book.

On a computer screen both colours are reflecting -because they are both lights.
Your eyes have a hard time daling with is as they can't relax.

Remember the DEPT of education is YOU the tax payer.
Plus remember 100'000 laptops = a HUGE maintainence bill
This is in a country that pupils are crying out for decent school buildings

If the Dept just bought wireless ones, the kids could all stay home - hey presto, two problems solved in one! (actually, 3 because someone could keep an eye on the dog as well)

28064212

BizzyC wrote:

What happens when laptops go missing? Do they supply the student a new one?

Students (and their parents) are liable = they pay for replacement. See my post about 5 up

pickarooney

The kids in my local (primary) school each have a laptop, but they can't take them home. They don't seem to get homework as such (or at least that's what the neighbour kid would have me, and his mother, believe ), but do exercises after class time.

nesf

Goodshape wrote:

They could be.

As much as I love wiki, it's not a substitute for textbooks.

Yet...

AndyWarhol

And the government would probably have to buy them all from Dell and run Microsoft software like all government departments in this country...

OLDYELLAR

by my bf just now

''your never mixing drink and lemsips ever again''