Hello all,

I would like to ask your opinion about a project i am planning to embark on with a few friends. Our idea is as follow...

The Industrial Revolution drastically changed the world. Along with the economic benefits it had reaped for their countries, the Industrial Revolution also brought along greater pollution and mistreatment to our planet Earth. On average, each individual in an office uses 2.5 pounds of paper per week while 17 trees are required to make a ton of paper. The combination of the two factors result in rapid deforestation, as producers are willing to fell more trees to suit our demand for paper. Paper is an essential need for both students and office workers; we cannot live without it but we strongly feel that we can achieve a win-win situation, to save the planet and enable students to take down notes and learn at the same time and that is to find a substitute for paper- laptop.

We aim to minimize the use of paper through the usage of environmentally-friendly laptops to replace paper for doing work. By using a computer for data storage and dispersion of information, we can stop cutting down trees to manufacture paper.

Feature of the Laptops:

Our eco friendly laptops will have the following features:

·         Lightweight so that it will not be a drag to bring it to school.

·         Affordable so that everyone, rich or poor, will be able to acquire them.

·         Energy efficient so as not to use up too much power just to get it to work

·         Solar panel will be included so that an alternative energy source is present to power the laptops and thus enabling the computers to run longer.

·         The microphone will allow verbal discussion even when students are having online lessons at home.

Basic functions such as writing word documents and having the ability to send and receive files through wireless means. This way, the teachers can receive assignments from students and they can send notes to the students without having to use a single sheet of paper. As for funding, we would turn to the government to help subsidize the cost of the laptop despite it being already quite cheap as this will enhance the students’ education. This will also help the poorer students to be able to afford the laptops. Alternatively, the students can choose to pay for the laptops by monthly instalments.

What do you all think of this idea?

Is its feasible? What are the potential problems we may face and also, any suggestion on how we can improve this idea so it will benefit the greater good? Your suggestions and comments or criticism is warmly welcomed!

love,

Jeraldine

feasibility... i'd give it 50-50... dun think it'll be feasible at this point in time.

your eco friendly laptop is abit too futuristic. solar panels? then either its external or your laptop has to be damn big and classroom damn bright...a laptop is also not cheap. e-learning also poses a lot of problems eg. server crash.(im in np and its compulsory to have a laptop and trust me not everyone can afford it and there are also its downsides) its not easy to find a cheap and light weight laptop. you can stop cutting down trees but mine more metals and burn more fuel to power the laptops...now your idea doesnt seem feasible but in the future this could well be the case...its an idea worth making and developing on and your generation could be the one to push for this...today, no but 10 years down the road, who knows?

isnt this really old?

Check out One Laptop Per Child. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child

er, so wad do u wan to achieve ultimately? save the earth or enhancing the learning system?

anyway i dun think its feasible. im considering that secondary sch students should not have the discipline to concentrate with sch work during lessons. Im just assuming, and its just my opinion.

less paper more laptops = more electricity used no matter how u try to conserve electricity.

theres also the problem of overheating of laptops.

for improvements, to cut cost i suggest that the laptop be designed for solely work purposes, which means its not suitable for heavy gaming.

if laptops are used, i recommend the introduction of educational games for lessons.

Trust me, this is a big mistake.

My school has implemented it an it is a complete disaster. Students are playing games in class, and as a result many teachers ceased use of the laptops in class. The school IT support is completely dumb and the only word they know is "reformat", half of the students can solve technical issues better than they can.

Parents complained that students were forced to purchase the laptops and in the end it wasn't even put to much use, so teachers deliberately invented uses for the laptops. The plan about not bringing books to class was totally scrapped, so in the end students had to lug books AND laptops to school, just so that the school can say that its laptop plan was not a failure.

In the end, the school is accountable to no one. The students were forced to pay for the laptops, so the school doesn't have any financial accountability to ensure the project was not a failure. (Which it is.)

How about for JC students who are more disciplined than secondary school students? What do you think?

Thanks for your comments!

JC students possible as a lot of them have notes. but things such as maths or sci where you need to draw stuff makes it difficult for them. one solution is tablet which TJC IP students are using now. but tablet is more expensive.

reduce the amount of trees cut but you'll get more consumption for coals.. its like borrowing from a bank to repay debts owed to loansharks..

1 - your idea of using laptops for education other people already implement - http://www.laptop.org/

2 - there is no such thing as an eco-friendly laptop. all electronics are highly toxic - go read the report - http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/greener-electronics-guide

Hi Jerrie, certain (elite) secondary schools in the past has implemented a trial period of Tablet PC usage for educational purpose. Tablet PC is a more advanced laptop which can be used like a book.

However, like what people said above...its not really of a success due to cost,technological limitation etc.

Btw, has ur blog been hijacked? It get redirected to a porn site

Hi Jeraldine

What project are you doing? school project? 

If you are proposing to use eco friendly laptops, then I think it should apply to a wider group of users, not just schools only. But eco friendly laptops first should be available in the market. If not, it is just an idea which sounds good but unfeasible.

If the objective of your project is to cut down the usage of paper, then I think there are also many ways to do it, like burning lesson materials into CD, print on double side etc, educating students on saving paper etc. ; )

not feasible for now - cost is one issue and is it practical?

cost is not an issue.......responsibility is....which is lacking in youths nowaday

laptop environmentaly friendly?

what a joke sia

the eletricity is already not environmentally friendly.

at least paper can be made with recycled paper, u can't produce eletricity using recycled eletricity rite?

secondary sch = NOT practical.

for those who have been a secondary sch students, u noe why. (GAMES). Books are still the best.

even for me as a poly student now, i find that i print notes from digital format so that it is easier to read. (so i question the use of a laptop to replace book). For me, the only time i use laptop is for my computer programming and convenient for me to do my presentation. (when there are days that i dun need to bring laptop to school, i dun bring).

Originally posted by Cowbaycowboo:

cost is not an issue.......responsibility is....which is lacking in youths nowaday

agreed~

What's the carbon footprint like to manufacture those things?

not to pour cold water on TS but i think it is not feasible.~

Originally posted by sbst275:

not feasible for now - cost is one issue and is it practical?

Cheapest: $299 at 2nd hand shop(3 days warrantry, 1 to 1 Xchange)

Cheapest: $699 at UMPC level

Cheapest: $1199 at marginal level at courts, harvey norman etc.....