The first week with Personalized Learning at Mason has received mixed reactions from students. While some students find the technology annoying, specifically the technological issues, others find the technology very helpful. So far, students should have received a laptop and most have already started using them in class.

??A lot of teachers have already utilized the laptops, basically everyone of our teachers have asked us to get them out right away,?? said sophomore Anna Connole, ??but a lot of people can??t connect to Wi-Fi or Schoology.??

For students having issues, the Help Desk operates in the old trading post and has a student present at all times of the day to help out anyone with a problem, such as log-in difficulties. Many students have already visited the Help Desk, but some have had to go to the library because their issue was harder to solve.

??I got a Barracuda block notice on a French dictionary,?? said sophomore Manon Diz. Barracuda blocking a site that shouldn??t be blocked and another issue, the SSL Error Code on Chrome, are most common among students.

Sophomore Sarah Edwards noticed the definite change the laptops created for the first week of school. ??It??s interesting because it??s a different kind of first day. 72% of the day is laptop troubleshooting, and we aren??t getting as many textbooks because most of them are online which is nice, so we don??t have to lug a whole bunch of stuff around.??

The laptops have generated George Mason into a different type of workplace and for the better or for the worse it is too soon to say. It will be interesting to see how Personalized Learning affects the school and the reactions of students as the week progresses.