Administrative

Students may use the laptops that the school provides. However, administrators have banned students from bringing their personal laptops to school. (Photo by Jessica Stadler)

Effects of laptop and flashdrive ban reviewed

By Shelby Brokaw

April 11, 2008

Technology has long been an essential tool in education. In fact, without computers, many students would have trouble getting through their everyday lives. Unfortunately, with such resources made available to students, there are some dangers that Silver Lake administrators must avoid.

The technology department at Silver Lake High School must regulate many of these resources. In March, all personal laptops and flashdrives were banned from school premises. Kevin Brokaw, technology director for USD 372, explained those measures.

He said the laptops were barred because the school was not able to survey what software was on them. He also said there was a temptation for students to get around the system in order to connect to the school's network.

The flashdrives were forbidden due to the susceptibility of viruses they posed to the school's network and the large capacity they held, allowing students to upload programs that are restricted by the school's security measures.

While this measure was greatly disputed among various students when it was implemented, many students are beginning to see the meaning behind the action taken.

Senior Brian Lampe explained, "I respect the decision they had to make just because their first concern is obviously keeping the network safe and virus free. You have to do what you have to do sometimes."

Lampe projected that the policy would have the most notable impact on the senior class.

"…The policy is going to affect the seniors the most just because that's kind of the age when you get your first laptop and college classes are usually taken by seniors," said Lampe.

Senior Marshall Wetta explained the striking situation in Gail Naylor's college composition class where personal laptops were used every day before the implementation of the new policy. What Wetta discovered, though, was that the effects on the class were not as profound as the students had projected them to be due to the school's own supply of resources.

Wetta commented, "At first I thought the new tech policies about laptops would affect me more so than they actually do...The school has a lot of computers and technology available so it really is not that big of a deal, certainly not as big of a deal as we made it seem."

Fortunately for students attempting to transfer schoolwork from home, there are ways of doing so.

Brokaw explained, "We have a few flash drives we can check out to teachers and/or students on a short-term basis and probably a better way is for students to use the Kan-Ed portal. Through using the Kan-Ed portal, each student already has an account set up and they already have 25 megabytes worth of storage space there. It's web based so they can get to it here and anywhere they can get to the Internet."

The Kan-Ed website can be accessed through a portal on the school’s website or by going to http://login.learningstation.com/kportal/. Once the students reach the website, they enter their Powerschool name and password as well as the subscription ID kan788. This will then take them to their desktop where they will find numerous references. To upload a file onto the website, students must click on the tab labeled "backpack." From here, students may transfer their work from home to the school via Internet.

Due to the school's many resources, as well as the Kan-Ed website, Brokaw expects the new technology policy to be carried out effectively.

Brokaw said, "We'll have to work through some complications and kind of retrain people, but I think if everyone's open-minded, there are ways of working around it. I think it's going to involve teachers and faculty being proactive and enforcing it. I don't think it's anything we can't make work."