High school student: ‘We tend to veer off and get distracted’

Whitney Webster, a student at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, said laptops for students and requirements for more online courses “will ultimately bring out far more negative outcomes than good.” She said in the Miami, Fla. school district, students are being forced to take online classes and many are failing. “Taking an online course does not give a student more technological expertise,” Webster told the Senate Education Committee.  “There needs to be reform in the educational system where technology plays a role, but a role that is balanced alongside the teacher.” She said there currently are laptops for students in her English class, but they’re used only to do research under the teacher’s guidance. “As a high school student, we tend to veer off and get distracted with other things that are online,” Webster said.