School without papers

[ardianto]

What is your opinion about school without papers/books ?.

I mean, school which students read and write only on laptop computers, not on books, although they study in the classrooms with the teachers.

 

[Life_Is_Short]

Completely removing books? :ermm: No that's not a very good idea in my opinion. Staring at a computer screen for long hours is not very healthy. Besides many students would/do get distracted, they'll start checking their e-mail and the teacher can't keep an eye on everyone.

 

[Sawdah]

Completely removing books? :ermm: No that's not a very good idea in my opinion. Staring at a computer screen for long hours is not very healthy. Besides many students would/do get distracted, they'll start checking their e-mail and the teacher can't keep an eye on everyone.

That's true. Plus, how would the child learn how to improve on his caligraphy if he's been typing his whole school year? (I mean, they will need to write something down on paper someday...) It's best to stick to paper and books.

Also, wouldn't the school be wasting lots of electricity by using then charging all those laptops?

 

[Dagless]

What about all those poor trees? How about meet halfway? E Ink and touchscreens all round! :beard:

 

[Life_Is_Short]

What about all those poor trees? How about meet halfway? E Ink and touchscreens all round! :beard:

Trees are a renewable resource. Computer on the other hand use electricity which is (usually) generated by burning fossil fuels, a non-renewable resource. You get climate change by burning fossil fuels.

So books all around. :beard:

 

[waqas maqsood]

Subhanallah, you can tell Paper and books will be vanished and extinct in the next coming years.

 

[ardianto]

Completely removing books? :ermm:

Yes, completely removing books.

Like ordinary school, students learn in the classroom. But the difference is, all students and teachers use their own laptop/notebook computers, offline and online. They do not use any books.

There is one (and only) high school like this in my city. But I will never send my kids to study in this school because removing books is not a good idea. It would makes students depend on electricity and would makes them lose their ability to write or draw something with their hands.

Imagine if they lost their laptop computers ?, they lost all of their books. And they would get a problem if they must work without computers.

 

[zakirs]

Removing books would be a waste of energy because books only take one time investment of resources , where as laptops continuously absorb energy. Although using laptops for computer education/programming is good.It is not suited for all.

Also i personally prefer reading physics from a book rather than pc.

 

[ardianto]

I remember when I was in Uni. I saw, a difference between young lecture and old lecture is : In young lecture's houses I could see new car(s) and small number of books. In old lecture's houses I didn't see any car by I saw many books in everywhere, and many of those books were not cheap.

I think if Uni also removes books, I would not see old lecture's 'house of books' again.

 

[Life_Is_Short]

We usually have ICT up until secondary school and students that have not done GCSE ICT have to do an aditional short course alongside their course at college otherwise universities don't accept them. It's one of the essential requirement.

 

[Sampharo]

Education using only computers is wasteful and not as productive. One school here tried it and sunk in standard beyond recognition, and turned it back to mixed but most of the parents pulled their children out already due to dropping grades and rising costs (school had to charge to cover the cost of computers, programs, software, anti-virus updates, internet connection, electricity etc.)

Computers and internet are great for what they do, and that is exchange of ideas, communication, multi-media access. But staring at a computer screen to read screen after screen of factual text information is just taxing on the eyes and the electricity bill. We get tired on the forum if the post is more than two screens long, so imagine having to read page after page.

Personally I downloaded hundreds of electronic books. They are fantastic as research resources because I can search and find topics or keywords, however never could read more than a few pages at a time, and have almost never finished an electronic book over 50 pages even if getting back to it over and over again. With a printed book however I can get through that 50 pages in one single night.

 

[PouringRain]

At my oldest's school all the students have laptop computers, but they also still use books and papers for writing. The laptops are used for a variety of things, and even their textbooks can be found on-line. The teachers teach the students how to take lecture notes on the computers, write reports, make videos, create things, etc. They have an entire technology class they even attend.

Some of you have mentioned electricity... and I think it is always a valid concern. We conserve electricity a lot around here and also use a lot of renewable resources. One thing that I am quite fond of is wind turbines that use wind energy to create electricity. Another thing people can consider is solar energy.

Someone else mentioned teachers being unable to monitor the computers and students checking e-mail. In my child's school it is not possible. Their laptops are monitored from the school. Most websites are blocked, except for pre-approved ones from the school, and if something slips through that is not approved a "red flag" goes up in the principal's office and all the students information is available for the principal to see. Absolutely nothing is secret on those laptops. If a student takes their laptop home and browses unapproved websites, then the minute the student brings it back to the school it will trigger the "red flag" alert. There are still ways the students could "play" on their computers without going on-line, but to get around that issue, many teachers position their desk at the back of the room. That way they can see every computer as they sit at their desk. While lecturing, a teacher can always walk around the room as well. The class sizes in this school are relatively small compared to most schools. The students are expected to be responsible for their own laptops, and can even get in trouble if they do not have it charged for class or they forget it at home, because it is the same as not being prepared for class.

I think the computers are a very good thing, but the school is also not completely paperless. I am not sure how any form of education could be completely paperless. People do need to learn how to write.

 

[ardianto]

I think the computers are a very good thing, but the school is also not completely paperless. I am not sure how any form of education could be completely paperless. People do need to learn how to write.

That's why I will not send my kids to study in school like this.

There is one 'paperless school' in my city, Actually this is an 'experimental school'. This year is their first year, so, I don't know yet a result of education system like this.