Laptops or Paper?

“Mom, I want to switch schools,” I said one day after coming home with news that our sister school would be implementing a new personal laptop program for its students. At my school, we had many computer labs and portable carts in classrooms with the newest version of the Apple laptop, but that was not enough. I wanted to take one home with me and have one with me at all times, and now that some of my friends at our rival school would have them, I was very bitter towards my own school.

However, that next year as my friends from the neighboring school began their new program in which math problems and note taking were all completely on a Dell notebook, they all also began to spend much time waiting in the school’s technology office or crying that all of their work had somehow been deleted due to technical malfunctions. As I heard horror stories of losing 10 page essays and having computers die while taking an online test, I became much less jealous of their computers.

Research has proved that when students write things down on paper, information usually stays in the brain longer and clearer than when written out on a computer. The technology of the world today is indeed greatly advanced and has enhanced our world in more ways than we can imagine, but I believe that in high schools, the best way to infiltrate a strong curriculum and provide a firm foundation of education is to maintain the old-fashioned pen and paper route. Of course the utilization and introduction of new educational technology for certain circumstances is definitely beneficial when it comes to projects and teaching methods, but when taking notes, solving equations, taking tests, or even writing in-class essays, I believe that using pen and paper not only avoids all technological problems, but also enhances learning.

The United Nations and Genocide

I am going to blog about the United Nations’ definition of genocide, in relation to the genocides taking place currently in Darfur, Rwanda, and Sudan. As there are over 1.8 million lives that have been displaced in these nations, the United Nations continuously has refused to act upon this injustice.

This is a good topic as it brings a silent issue which goes unspoken of to light and instigates awareness among the world. I have been interested in this topic for many years after hearing about this issue in a Global Issues class. This topic would be intended for an audience of anyone unaware of this problem, and those who would maybe become involved to speak out. I have read about many instances of mass murders and brutality towards groups of people, all demonstrating the extremity of these genocides. However, unless recognized by governments across the world, these silent killings will continue.