Skyline High School has made the decision to become a 1-to-1 school for the 2022/23 school year. This means that not only will there be a computer for every student while at school. But each student has been given a computer to take wherever they please for the entirety of the school year. 

Many students are very excited about the situation, while others find the number of new computers excessive. Senior IB student at Skyline, Bhargav Vasireddy, chimes in with his knowledge of the student reaction. 

“I think the school computers are a little unnecessary, but they’re definitely helpful for those who need it.” Yet Vasireddy also later said. “I use the school computer because I just wanna have a central access. I mean, they gave it to us, why not use it?” 

The computer that was given to every student was the dell latitude 3310 core i3 8th generation. They are a part of the “Dell Latitude” series which has been around since 1994. According to cdw.com, the laptops are light weight, have an above average battery life, and is an overall great choice.

“It’s a great laptop. I have no real complaints; I just think that some students may complain that they’re being constricted to a singular laptop at the beginning of the year.” Vasireddy adds.

The most controversial piece of the add was if students were going to be forced to use the school laptops even if they prefer their own. Students became divided over if a possible invasion of privacy was worth the new laptops. A rumor during the summer confirmed this with the fact that teachers would be able to monitor everything that was done on the computer. 

This news led to a negative response from many of the students and parents, but the situation deescalated once the school year got underway. As it has not been put into effect yet. “Teachers kind of talked about having a lot of constraints and like privacy viewing issues, but. As the year has gone on, no one’s really had an issue with that anymore and everyone’s kind of been able to use their own computers, so.” Says Vasireddy hoping the monitoring doesn’t begin soon. 

The schools teachers however aren’t as against the 1 to 1 as many others. Language Arts teacher, Molly Petersen, thinks it is something the school has needed for a very long time. “I think it was an excellent decision, the school district should have done it years ago, we are behind the times.” 

Teachers have not been required to enforce the use of the school laptops. It has been up to the students majority of the time so far. Petersen has a relaxed approach in her block classrooms. “I’m not sure what other people are doing in their classrooms. I have articulated that students should be using the school laptops, but I don’t regularly enforce it. Except for an occasional online quiz.”

At least for now, the change to 1-to-1 hasn’t been loved or hated. Its still at the point where some see it as a great investment to help students who cant afford a laptop, and some see it as a major waste.