Can you imagine making a great presentation to show your class, and it takes a whole minute to load a single slide? This is a real issue for students at Coronado High School.
Since the 2020 pandemic, Coronado has been issuing personal laptops for students to do their work, and most teachers and students would agree that it makes learning and working significantly easier. However, it is 2024, these laptops are becoming very old and students, including myself, are noticing several issues.
For example, the most common issue is faulty batteries which will not hold a charge or charge at all. Deric Grant, Class of 2025 said, “These school laptops won’t stay charged and are so bad, I switched to a mac! Not worth the hassle.” Deric takes photography at Coronado and needs a high-powered device to edit photos.
In my own experience, I have taken a few computer science classes and if it were not for the computer cart with better laptops, it would be a struggle to run code for an assignment. Additionally, it takes far too long for the laptops to boot up. When the teacher wants a warm-up done in the first 10 minutes of class, it can take way too long for one’s laptop to wake up it makes class difficult.
I spoke to Kipp Cox, Cybrarian at Coronado High School, and he said, “The current 3190 2in1 machines are now 6 years old, and yes, they are at the end of their lives. We have been replacing batteries all year and are looking forward to replacing them next year. Palmer, Doherty, and Mitchell, all got them this year and have had great success with them. Very much looking forward to the new devices for Coronado.” Mr. Cox works in I.T. for the school and is always fixing laptops.
With that said, I also consulted Darin Smith, D11 area superintendent, who stated, “Yes, Coronado is getting new student devices for 2024-25 school year. The new Chromebooks should be delivered to Coronado after school ends and before summer bridge begins.” It’s reassuring to know that in the coming year students will have access to faster laptops that will make learning less of a chore.