We have kids who can't even afford to pay for school lunch... And you're asking if we should require them to have home computers???

If the school is going to require students to do computer work at home the they need to supply all the necesary equipment and pay any costs incurred to the student/family.

Why not leverage a resource that many have in their homes. Those that don't can still use the computer lab. It would be a much more effective enhancement to education than buying a computer for every child in the state.

Since Utah has one of the highest penetration rates for computers in the homes, this sounds like a great idea, as long as it is optional. My kids could do their homework online and the teacher wouldn't have to worry about grading it and my kids would be able to get immediate feedback.

Sounds like a precursor for replacing teachers with online bots...now if I could only decide if I were for or against that idea.

Yes

Not every home has a PC or access to a PC. Not every home has high speed internet or even a phone for dial up. Don't assume everyone is connected.

I've been using computers as educational tools for my students for years, including online assignments where the kids submit their work electronically. Computers can indeed expedite some of the mundane aspects of grading students' work. However, a good teacher will use time saved to provide more meaningful feedback and instruction to individual students. Computers also change the nature of assignments in a well run classroom where the teacher actaully knows what to do with the technology as part of an effective pedagogical strategy.

If all we're talking about doing is putting the same old worksheets online so the kids can do them with the home computer that would be a complete waste of resources.

For anyone who thinks this is a precursor for replacing teachers with online bots, you need to do some research because you haven't really got a clue.

A computer will never replace a teacher, but it can certainly augment and assist a teacher, making for a lighter workload. This would allow a teacher to focus on those aspects of learning for which the teacher is best while leveraging a computer for those elements that are suitable to automation and student customization.

BYU studies have shown that through a combination of in-class instruction and computer-assisted instruction student achievement increases. It allows the best of both worlds.

Kids are becoming social misfits because they can't relate to each other socially w/o text messaging or e-mail. They can type 70wpm, but have you SEEN their HANDWRITING? Little emphasis is placed on handwriting skills beyond basic letter shapes in elem. school. Handwriting is slow, too sloppy. I think as computers get smarter, the basic core skills that are taught in school suffer.
Maybe it's the way of the future, but I sure think it's sad. And NO, not every child has a computer in the home. It can't be required unless the school is willing to provide it to each and every low-income student. The $$ doesn't exist in our public schools to purchase needed air conditioning or textbooks. I highly doubt they will be able to assure every child has a PC.

To all that have a 'knee-jerk' over requiring a kid to do it on a computer at home. I say a resounding "Yes!" in agreement that it is not lawful. Legally public schools are governments. As such, they can't require a person to use personal propery for government purposes without just and fair compensation. In other words, they must pay for the child to use the home computer and all expenses for it's use for school reasons.

In short, they can mandate it; but they must pay for it.

It's often that admnistrators and legislators, using their own personal environment as the norm, adopt a 'one-size-fits-all' rule which creates a burden on a whole class of people.

At a minimum, they have to get permission of the parents bedfore mandating anything like this.

I know how the mandate the impossible situation is; we didn't have a TV and I had to submit a report on a specific program airing that evening. I got a failing grade because I couldn't do the assignment. That was, until my Mom stopped orbiting some remote planet and landed in the principal's office with jets still smoking; the grade changed.

Duh. You unnecissarily state the obvious and throw in a few exceptions to reality. Schools are not governments. Schools/teachers can mandate that a student come prepared with paper and pencil and reasonable parents expect to provide them. When a kid really can't get supplies from home the school helps out, but the school is not expected to provide "fair compensation" for the use of personal property. Granted, computers and Internet access cost significantly more than paper and pencil. In a recent poll of my students in a community with average to low income, 98 percent claimed to have Internet access at home. I was, frankly surprised it was that many but it made it possible for me to augment the kids' experience with some computer-based activities.

Students that don't have computer access at home were easily be presented with alternatives, as I'm sure you were after your mom cooled her jets in the Principal's office, (or maybe you were just given a free pass on the assignment and missed the educational opportunity because your helicopter mom rescued you from your education).

If we can give $3,500,000 for preschoolers to have software (thank Stephenson) then why not?

Dear 2 Bits,

If a student is unable to have a decent lunch because of poverty, they can easily qualify for free or reduced school lunch. There is no reason any child should go hungry at school, unless their parents are being negligent. They can usually also get free breakfast.

So if their parents are negligent about free lunch, how do you think they will fare getting a computer for their children.

It's called equal access.

I am a middle school teacher here in Utah. I require my students to use the internet. I give my students class time to do the work, but I have students who don't have a computer or internet at home. They make arrangements to stay after school or come in early and use the computer lab. I didn't have a computer in my home and I would BE RESPONSIBLE (now there is a novel concept to teach our children!) and plan a time when I could stay after school and use their computers.

We live in a technological world and if our kids can't have access to a computer, we are giving them a big disadvantage. To be successful in the world today, you must know how and have a computer. So many things are done online and with a computer.

If the schools don't have the funding as it already is, then why should they have to be the ones to give slacker parents the money for a computer?