Cam's Connection

Computers In Schools: An Opinion Originally published in Brand New Planet. At most schools across Canada, teachers, principals, parent councils and administrators are placing a priority on having computers in every classroom or at least a large computer lab. School councils hold large fundraisers to raise money for extra things that the school board budget doesn’t cover. At my school, we just got 40 brand new computers to replace the older ones we had. To pay for it, our school has been selling cookie dough, holding barbecues and other fundraising events. I don’t think computers are as useful as everybody thinks they are. We spend a lot of money buying brand new computers, but they’re not being put to good use. It may be important for kids to learn how to use today’s technology, learn how to type, do online research, and use math and reading games, but it’s also important for kids to learn the basic subjects. And it’s difficult to do your best when you have to share a textbook with two or three people, you’re in a class of up to 35 other kids, you have classes in portables and a lot of your favourite programs might be cut from the budget. With all these other problems facing schools, are computers really the right priority to focus on? We’re spending thousands of dollars on computers that might not even be used properly. Some kids use computers class to goof off, surf the internet when they’re not supposed to or check their email. If schools are going to spend their cash on brand new computers, they should first make sure that they’re going to utilize them as much as possible for a variety of purposes. First of all, teachers should make sure kids can type quickly. Most people I know can’t, and because of that, it takes them a lot longer to do even simple assignments. If it were up to me, schools would still have computer labs, but instead of replacing computers every few years, which isn’t really necessary (you can make do on older computers, they still have encyclopedias, educational programs and internet access for research), I’d spend the money on textbooks, libraries, hiring extra teachers to make smaller classes, and special programs like music, outdoor recreation or swimming, depending on what facilities each school has. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think computers are cool, I do, I love playing games on them. But I don’t think they’re the amazing learning tool everybody says they are. And if your school has computers that are so old you can’t accomplish anything on them, it would be a good idea to replace them. But some schools are buying a lot of unnecessary computers, in my opinion. So, if they suggest buying new computers at your next school council meeting, maybe it would be a good idea to suggest some other options.