Bearden starts distribution process of 2,000 MacBook Pros
Students and parents line up in the cafeteria to pick up the new MacBook Pros. The rollout ends on Thursday night.
About 600 students lined up to receive their brand new MacBook Pros on Tuesday as the laptop rollout process began at Bearden. A similar number did the same on Wednesday, and the process will wrap up Thursday.
After a seminar given by an administrator about laptop care and proper usage, students and parents waited in line to get their hands on the MacBooks.
Sophomore Jackson Bieger said that he is excited to be able to use his laptop in place of textbooks. He can also use his laptop to type papers instead of writing them by hand. Also, he said he is glad it will no longer be necessary to use the computer labs for the whole class to use a computer.
Freshman Luciano Alday said that he is excited to get new technology and learn in a different way.
Junior Hope Buchanan is less excited for the MacBooks. Although the laptops are intended to aid education, the process of learning how to use them may take away from the education process, Buchanan said.
Sophomore Katy Burton said her one problem with the new laptops is that students and parents may not understand what they agree to when the MacBooks are distributed. Burton fears that many students and parents may not thoroughly read or understand the details about privacy. Still, Burton said that the laptops will be helpful to students’ education.
Mrs. Rachel Harmon, a Bearden administrator who oversees technology use in classrooms, said that, although there were a few minor snags in the process, the distribution Tuesday night was successful. The biggest issue was that students were so excited to get their laptops that the coordinators could not set up fast enough.
A few athletes and band students who could not come at their designated time due to schedule conflict came in at their newly-assigned times, but the computers were not ready for them to pick up. The line was long, but once there were new scanners, the wait was shorter, Mrs. Harmon said.
Even with some obstacles, the distribution was barely hindered. But the process for the rest of the laptop rollout will be even better, Mrs. Harmon said, with all small issues addressed.
“It just makes me really proud to work at a school like Bearden with such wonderful employees and parents that support what we do,” Mrs. Harmon said.