Imagine trying to start an important project for your class and having to spend several minutes trying to get your device to connect to the WiFi, your keyboard to start working, or for your assignment to load.
This, unfortunately, is the case for many students at Hershey High School. Hershey is experiencing its first year with brand new iPads which brought some excitement last year when the announcement was made.
However, many students agree that the new devices have been “disappointing” and constantly “malfunctioning”. This makes completing school work much more difficult to do, as it introduces a new inconvenience among students.
The first marking period has just ended for students, and the technology has been viewed as a failure. A student poll conducted by the Broadcaster consisting of 55 students in varying grades showed some disappointing statistics.
According to the survey, 30.9% of students feel that their school issued iPad is ineffective at completing their work. However, the statistics get more staggering. 69.1% of students believe their iPad functions worse than in previous years, with only 18.2% believing that they work better. 76.4% of students in the survey find that their device glitches more than they prefer over 16.4% who say otherwise.
Additionally, over twice as many students are unsatisfied with their iPads as students that are satisfied, with 47.3% unsatisfied and a small 23.6% satisfied. In a concluding shocking result, over one-quarter of students who participated in the poll admitted to sending their device to the tech department, and 4 out of 5 students admitted they faced an inconvenience with their device that wasn’t sent to the tech department.
If this statistic shows a congruence with the rest of the school, that means that a total of one entire grade level sent their device to the tech department and that 800 students are facing technical issues.
Finally, we asked the recipients of the survey to answer what they disliked most about their iPad and the problems it caused in their academic career. Many applicants noted the keyboards, which are infamous for crashing. Students have said that the keyboards have made them unable to complete assignments or that it takes longer to complete them successfully.
Obviously the fact that our school can give iPads to every student is a great blessing and opportunity; however, almost all high-schoolers agree that the large budget to get these new devices should’ve proceeded with better results.
If you are having a problem with your device, go find tech support to assist you. Despite this, it is necessary for all students to have better resources. If you want to contact the district about trying to improve technical supplies, use the community feedback form to let them know of this problem.
