Yo, BG professors (or at least those that work at colleges in some form)

[Serra]

It has been a long time since I was in grade school, but is it feasible to ask kids to turn everything in electronically? In college, if a student doesn't have a computer, there's always a library they can use to do their work. But that's not really an option for high school students, no?

[Ayn]

It's actually pretty scary about the pressure, even at the college level.

I'm in a tenure-track / more secure position than most, and every now and then there's subtle pressure in the form of "retention rates" and "catering to our population".

For people that are adjuncts, when grades are tied to student evaluations in some way, which administration gives a disproportionate weight to, I can easily see why some people would be pressured to give people a slightly higher boost.

Do I agree with it? No. Have I caved to it? No (because while I like what I do, I was never so insecure that I wasn't confident in securing employment outside of the field). But I can see where people in positions with less power would feel that way.

Then there's also the fear factor: Some students can make an instructor feel threatened (particular male students towards female instructors). I've had some colleagues deal with some downright creepy shit (yes, they've reported it/notified higher ups), but still.

[SamanosukeShiva]

In colleges nowadays for writing assignment they almost always require electronic submission, my university use Blackboard mainly. Also, universities take plagiarism very very seriously, I've seen couple students had to go to an ethics hearing and damn near got kicked out because of it. Also in my university, C- is the minimum passing grade, as well as all the tests average cannot go below C- or the course will not count towards your major.

As Ayn already mentioned few post above, some people are not mentally ready yet for college.

Speaking from experience, graduating out of high school and going into college "undecided" is probably the worst move a student can do. I went straight to college as any other high schooler did after graduation, 17 years old, not knowing what to do I just decided to pursue general transfer AA, thinking I'll know what major I'll get by the time I get my AA. Few semesters in, I already lost motivation, I didn't feel a sense of purpose, no drive to go to class, and ended up withdrawing. So I just decided to get whatever job I could get while getting my head straight and figuring out what I want out of college. Few years later when I decided to go back to college knowing what I want, I felt like I had a mission and a sense of purpose, and I think that made me a hell of a better student for it.

[Ksandra]

It has been a long time since I was in grade school, but is it feasible to ask kids to turn everything in electronically? In college, if a student doesn't have a computer, there's always a library they can use to do their work. But that's not really an option for high school students, no?

The student demographic at my school is dirt poor, but it's still feasible because magically they all still manage to have a smart phone. Any at least for me, I make sure in typing situations they have plenty of computer lab time in class to get it done.

[Ayn]

Speaking from experience, graduating out of high school and going into college "undecided" is probably the worst move a student can do. I went straight to college as any other high schooler did after graduation, 17 years old, not knowing what to do I just decided to pursue general transfer AA, thinking I'll know what major I'll get by the time I get my AA. Few semesters in, I already lost motivation, I didn't feel a sense of purpose, no drive to go to class, and ended up withdrawing. So I just decided to get whatever job I could get while getting my head straight and figuring out what I want out of college. Few years later when I decided to go back to college knowing what I want, I felt like I had a mission and a sense of purpose, and I think that made me a hell of a better student for it.

I think motivation is a huge thing. I hopped majors a bit (there's a short, stupid story about why I didn't stay in my initial major; let's just say they like to 'steer' certain people..), but I was motivated to get the heck out of where I grew up. So the script was always "if I fail here, I'm stuck there". Also helps that my grandfather was both a scary man and one I really respected, so didn't want to disappoint him. The undecided thing is even huger for people at community colleges. At least at some universities, if you stay undecided too long, the peer pressure of other people around you having a major can possibly prompt you to pick one.

The student demographic at my school is dirt poor, but it's still feasible because magically they all still manage to have a smart phone. Any at least for me, I make sure in typing situations they have plenty of computer lab time in class to get it done.

This. I get very annoyed when someone brings up our 'poorer' student demographic and cites them not having technology because they're broke. Most of them have some access to internet (phone) and like you said, we can typically schedule some lab time.

[BaneTheBrawler]

smart phones aint that expensive


especially if you're not an idiot