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from the of-course-it-is-impossible-to-get-online-using-a-desktop dept.
US Laptop Shortage Could Derail Remote Learning:
As students and teachers prepare for a return to in-person learning for at least some of the time this fall, many of the nation's schools are facing shortages and delays for laptops and tablets needed for online learning, an Associated Press investigation revealed.
Lenovo, HP and Dell, the nation's largest computer companies, have informed school districts that they are short nearly five million laptops.
[...] Last month, at the request of President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese companies, including Lenovo, AP reported. School administrators have asked the Trump administration to devise a solution because remote learning without laptops is impossible.
Lenovo has informed school districts of the supply chain delays and the trade controls set by the Commerce Department, which would cause another slowdown. Lenovo declined to respond to an inquiry from AP.
Have any Soylentils run into this?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by kazzie on Sunday August 30 2020, @05:28PM (2 children)
There's a slight argument that laptops don't require as much space to set up - they're not sending desks home with the students too, are they?
Plus, if you're doing any teaching by videoconferencing, you'll need to source extra hardware and get the students to plug it in. Laptops typically have the webcam and microphone built-in.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Sunday August 30 2020, @09:04PM
We're using a laptop as the home schooling computer, but still have a wired big monitor, keyboard, mouse and webcam plugged into it - ignoring the bits on the 2014 Dell which probably cost $4K new - simply because the $20 keyboard/mouse and $25 webcam work better than the stuff built into the laptop. Granted, it's a bunch of wires, but they don't get in the way where we've got it installed - and that installation provides a clear "we are doing schoolwork here" area which seems to help with focus and attention, and resignation to forget about outside interests while doing schoolwork.
On the Raspberry Pi in his bedroom, our 10th grader may watch a homework video - but he's always wanting to open other tabs and do other things while the homework is playing, something about the defined schoolwork space makes a big difference - even if it's just in the middle of the family room.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by barbara hudson on Sunday August 30 2020, @09:20PM
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