Midway Muddling

It is midway through the semester.

The students are losing interest in the work.

Unfortunately, the equipment has begun to affect their grades. When they can't submit their quizzes, or have to fight to stay logged into their blogs, they quit. Many students did not have all the posts they were supposed to have had for the recent check. The excuses varied from 'I tried but...' to 'When I don't have to re-do it over and over, I'll do it.'

Yes, this sounds like my students are belligerent do-nothings, but they are fed up. The technology they have in their pockets, and in their lives outside of school, is a different world. School is where everything is slow and frustrating, whether is it paper or what we're doing now. They cannot use their own devices because cellphones and iPads are not allowed in school, so it is supposed to be a secret that they carry them.

Every day I watch the students try to log into Chrome over and over, only to be confronted with a System is down or System cannot be found  page that pops up showing the broken robot caricature. This week they are starting the active research using search engines, databases, and Son of Citation Machine.  They are clearly tuning out. If we had used the index cards, there would not be so much disappointment.  "When do we get the Chrome Books?'

When indeed?  I am feeling guilt and helplessness asking them to continue working this way with equipment that clearly cannot support the required tasks. In my gut I know when they finally DO arrive, I'm supposed to be happy and falling all over myself in gratitude.