Um, I'm not THE teacher, I'm A teacher; an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher. I never said I was THE teacher. I said "I've been in some Ohio high school CS classes".

I pushed into the classes several times a month to support my students. I also worked with the teacher to translate some docs and modify others. I worked with the students individually and in small groups to help them understand the content. The same as I do for science classes, and the same as I do for math classes.

I'm sure the actual teacher of record knows the OSI layers. Thanks for reminding me what they are called, though.

High school teacher here. Not sure if we use the same curriculum as Code.org, but I've been in some Ohio high school CS classes. My small school offers InfoTech, Web Development, Programming, and we're adding a Security class next school year.

I was in the InfoTech class a lot this just ended school year, and the curriculum was pretty broad, and perhaps a bit too deep in some sections. They learned about the hardware in general (CPU, memory, hard drive - ssd and spinning, etc.). They got into, i think, 7 different types of networks (LAN and WAN, sure, but did they need "MAN", "CAN", "PAN", and whatever the one I can't recall is?), all the ??? Layers (hardware, encapsulation, transmission, application layer - I forget what they were). They studied binary, for too much time, imho, and a bit of hex. I was impressed by how much time the curriculum spent on encryption. The students solved some caesar ciphers and got a (very) general overview of computer encryption and things like public key crypto. I think they did a simple unit on programming (in python, but they didn't really get in deep at all).

A lot of the rest was generic overview - lots of info about operating systems, types of software, online security, even a bit about cryptocurrency, and, iirc, NFTs - but that may just have been a bonus added by the teacher. I think they are working to maybe include a unit on LLMs / generative AI for next year, but am not sure if it was finalized or not.

The InfoTech class, at least, was close to what people here have been suggesting - a general class to give students who aren't interested in it as a career some info they can use in their daily life and those who are interested a good foundation for going to the next level. What it won't do, in the short term at least, is create a surplus of coders who will drive wages down.

Side note: I agree with much of the content that people are suggesting students should study. Home Ec, plumbing / electrical, car and home maintenance are all super important skills. BUT, putting aside teacher availability and funding, scheduling students for classes, in smaller schools especially, can be a nightmare. Huge schools have fewer issues because they might have 20 or 30 science [or math or English, etc.] teachers so lots of sections of each course. They could probably add in many of the suggested courses, either as electives or required classes.

Smaller schools, not so much. Lots of times there are only a couple of sections of a course, so if those run at the same times as other courses the student needs, the student isn't getting that elective. Try to fit them into that elective, and the changes cascade. The student likely ends up missing out on a different class that they need.

I work in k-12, and I remember how bad it was trying to use MS Windows computers way back like 10 years ago. We certainly couldn't afford to provide one to each student, so we had a couple of carts that went classroom to classroom. There were a lot of problems that Chromebooks fixed or just don't have. When we had a mix of Chromebook carts and MS Windows carts, students were unhappy if their class ended up with a MS Windows cart.

Anecdotes are not evidence, but in my experience, students don't have strong feelings one way or the other about Chromebooks. Students who are super interested in computers have their own at home that they do the fun stuff on. At school, they do everything either in the Google ecosystem or at least web-based (for example: IXL, CommonLit, Edulastic, Code.org-type "development" sites, etc.). If they can find a site that isn't blocked (and there are plenty), they play web-based games - or they just play on their phones. At home, they get on their Playstation or XBox for some real gaming, if they are into it.

Chromebooks are light and unlike students' phones, they stay charged all day. Best of all, as others have mentioned, if something happens, you just grab one of the spares (a couple are placed in each classroom), log in, and pick up right where you left off. If it is just a dead battery, put yours in the case to charge for the rest of class, and you'll probably have enough to get you through the rest of the day.

Cheap is very good, not just to save on up front costs, but if you've not been in education, you might not believe the things students will do to computers. Years ago, someone closed an MS Windows laptop with a snickers bar on the keyboard. They spill drinks on them. They literally write on the screen! Kids pry keys off the keyboard. They drop them - accidentally all the time, purposefully occasionally. Screens break. I had a student punch their screen one time, and then jump up in shock when it broke.

In short, Chromebook-type computers are perfect for schools and are going to be a huge market for a long time. If Lenovo doesn't want to compete in this market, they don't have to.

This. My classroom does not have any windows and an ancient aircon that doesn't work half the time. Even when it does work, it would not be sufficient to remove meaningful quantities of the virus from the air. Sitting in this room with masked students for 45 minutes at a time would likely be more dangerous than doing the same in the school rooms that provided the data showing schools are safe. Probably unacceptably dangerous.

The danger is acceptably small IF recommended mitigations are followed. Some - like masks - are fairly easy and can be done. Others - like air filtration and class sizes - are not that easy. With time, money, and planning they can be done for many, but maybe not all schools.

Where the guidelines can be successfully implemented and followed, schools should be able to do in-person instruction, IF parents / guardians and students are willing. I've heard of districts where over 50% of families refuse to send their students to in-person schooling.

Also, I suspect that the data we have, the data that shows that schools are not as dangerous as they may seem, is not representative of all districts and schools in the USA. Data needs to be applied only where it is relevant.