CAUTIONARY TALE: Technology in the classroom doesn’t work for everyone. It certainly hasn’t worked for the combined junior-senior high school in Hoboken, NJ, according to The Hechinger Report.
After unexpected stimulus money arrived five years ago, the district bought laptops for their students, the majority of whom are close to the poverty line. But educators encountered myriad problems, including insufficient training, weak broadband, rampant theft and the unanticipated costs of maintenance and security software. As Jerry Crocamo, a computer network engineer who worked at the school, explained, “There is no more determined hacker, so to speak, than a 12-year-old who has a computer.” The district plans to recycle the laptops this fall.
