With kids around the country heading back to school, SodaHead.com, the web’s largest opinion-based community, asked its users about their thoughts on technology being used in schools, including when tablets and laptops should be allowed, thoughts on cell phones/texting in class and the potential change over to e-Books.
In addition, the poll asked respondents about their favorite and least favorite subjects in school and their opinions on the importance of a college education for getting a job.
The poll results and infographic indicate the following:
- The majority of respondents feel that laptops should not be allowed in school until high school. 18 percent think it’s OK for laptops to be used in elementary school, 25 percent feel they should be allowed in middle school, 33 percent are OK with laptops being introduced in high school, while 18 percent think that students should wait until college to use laptops. Only 7 percent feel that laptops should not be used at all in an educational setting.
- Regarding tablet use in school, the results were very similar. 17 percent are OK if kids use tablets in elementary school, 20 percent think that kids should wait until middle school to use tablets, while 31 percent feel that high school is the right setting to introduce tablets in the classroom. 19 percent feel that students should wait until college to use tablets in class, while 13 percent don’t think it is ever appropriate for tablets to be used in class.
- In terms of texting in class, only 18 percent think this is OK, while 53 percent feel it is not OK and 29 percent feel that texting should only be allowed in case of emergency. Regarding whether cell phones should be outright banned in school, 28 percent said yes; 41 percent said no, but that they should be turned off; and 25 percent said they should not be banned because sometimes it is a necessity.
- With e-Books gaining popularity, the public is still hesitant to make textbooks digital, but there are signs of a gradual shift.While 36 percent don’t want to shift to e-books in the classroom, 28 percent are for the switch, while 36 percent are ready for e-books to be in some classes.
- The poll also asked about respondents favorite and least favorite high school classes. English took the title of favorite class with 22 percent of the vote, followed by history at 21 percent and science at 18 percent. The least favorite class was overwhelmingly math with 40 percent of the vote, followed by physical education at 17 percent and English at 16 percent.
- The poll also asked respondents if they thought college was important to secure a good job. While 70 percent of high school students and 74 percent of college students do feel college is important to get a good job, only 50 percent of full time workers and 48 percent of those that were unemployed felt that college was important for getting a job.
Full details of the poll are available at SodaHead survey.
In addition, SodaHead has created an infographic with the results.
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