Har-Ber High School is currently lacking student Wi-Fi. All the Wi-Fi connections are locked with advanced WPA passcodes, and blocking all students from internet ussage on campus. Therefore depriving all students from Facebook, Words With Friends, Pandora Radio, and most importantly, Twitter.
Some may say the biggest problem with student Wi-Fi would become a distraction during class. But if you are brave enough to zone out during AP Calculus to check your Facebook, then go for it. It’s the student’s responsibility to pay attention in class and to keep up with their grades.
Allowing students to use the internet in school could be extremely benefical. Students could research school related topics, get on teachers’ websites, print from their iTouch or any Apple device, email projects, and do online homework.
Even the Wi-Fi we currently have is pathetic. Today, teachers are being encouraged to include technology in their curriculium. But how are our teachers supposed to reach those new requirements if they aren’t able to access it? Har-Ber’s Wi-Fi blocks and restricts websites with certain IP addresses, social networking websites, blacklisted websites, and YouTube.
To show a video during class, teachers must convert the You Tube video to a “Real Video” and save it to their own personal lap tops. Then the video is saved in a public library in which other teachers can use the video. Other methods include converting the video on special websites, such as Miro.com, Youtubesnips.com, and Catchyoutube.com.
If teachers can’t even show YouTube videos in school, then how are we as students supposed to advance in the future? Eighty-four percent of jobs now require some sort of computer ussage. Limiting and restricting the internet only limits our resources to learn from.
The mini-lap tops that are avaliable are less than useful. The most the mini laptops can handle is basic word processing and slow internet access. Some schools have even provided their students with iPads, and have stopped purchasing text books. If this is the future, then why can’t Har-Ber adjust?
Wi-Fi in class would open the doors to education. We would no longer be limited to just Springdale, Arkansas; but be able to learn from the rest of the world. Or in this case, the World Wide Web.
It’s the 21st century, and we should be allowed to tweet freely, view You Tube videos, and play Temple Run until our eyes burn out. Well, at least between classes.