Spring-Ford issued a new program this year in an effort to make the school more modern. They have given ninth graders their own laptops and are giving laptops to the entire high school starting next year.

In my opinion, laptops aren’t too bad.

They have better battery life than I was expecting and that was just about my only concern when I heard about us receiving the laptops. You can go to school with a full battery, use it in most of your classes, not charge it at night, and still be safe for the next day.

The only problem comes when students don’t charge the laptop for two nights in a row or more. This can only be pulled off if students don’t use the laptop that much during school, but most teachers do incorporate the laptop for teaching. Some teachers might be generous and forgiving and let you charge your laptop during class (though best time to charge is either during study hall or gym).

Teachers have a favorable attitude toward the new laptops as well.

“I like that I can assess students more easily and more frequently without actually having to give them a grade,” Social studies teacher Nick Tier said.

Tier added that he liked that students could easily figure out what was done in the class through Google Classroom and that he could go on virtual field trips and play more games with the class more easily. When asked about what he didn’t like, Mr. Tier responded saying that he had concerns about the amount of screen time the students were getting and that he was also worried about students not trying to think more about questions and just Googling them instead.

Personally, I like the fact that we got laptops, mainly because of the convenience. Sure, I have to remember to charge it every night, and in the beginning of the year I went through some small panics because I had forgotten it at home. I also understand what Mr. Tier said about how much screen time that we are getting, but besides all that it’s just really useful.

It’s much easier to access textbooks now, and I also find it nicer to be able to write school essays on it (like I’m doing right now). The laptops, like everything in the world, have their pros and cons.