Dual enrollment students issue complaints due to computer problems

Multiple dual enrollment students at Carter High School have been facing technical difficulties, which impairs their academic success.

Dual enrollment provides in-person and online college classes exclusively to juniors and seniors at Carter High School. Students have an array of classes to chose from, mainly provided by Pellissippi and Tusculum, both local colleges. These college classes provide credits, if students pass, that are potentially transferable to other colleges or universities; however, logistical problems have inhibited multiple students from completing their coursework.

“I have to bring an old MacBook to school because my class requires a lockdown browser for tests that chromebooks prohibit,” said Abigail Lawson, a senior. However, she added, her computer can no longer connect to the school’s WiFi, leaving her unable to complete assignments at school. While she can use her chromebook to complete assignments, the prospect of teachers closing her tabs through Hapara, a monitoring program, deters her.

Senior Ally Randolph has also encountered issues with the school WiFi; however, unlike Abigail, her phone has a hotspot she can connect her MacBook to. Within three days she had already used eleven gigabytes of data, which is unsustainable for students who do not have unlimited data plans. Besides issues at Carter, Ally has also faced problems with her dual enrollment institution. She was enrolled in two duplicate English classes online, and believing it was a mistake, she completed assignments for only one class. Eventually, she was dropped from the class she completed work in, leaving her with missing assignments. She stated, “I had to redo the assignments since the teacher did not get in touch with me, and I had to take a late deduction to my grade.”

Following the trend of struggling seniors is Bernard Barton. Like his classmates, he is using dual enrollment to fulfill core class requirements, so impairment to completing assignments is detrimental to his ability to graduate on time. Bernard stated, “It took a good while before I was able to get into my account on MyLab so I could complete my assignments.” As aforementioned, the sign-up process for MyLab, a digital learning platform, took place on his personal computer.

While not all of these technicalities can be predicted, these seniors are predominantly upset at the lack of information they were given about dual enrollment, such as needing a personal device. They ultimately wish to bring awareness to the hidden requirements the courses impose on students.