• tamal3@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    Maybe, but are there other things we can focus on? For example, as an ESL teacher, why do my newcomers only get a word to word paper dictionary on end of grade exams? I’m pretty sure the state of North Carolina just hates children? There’s literally no reason for this. Give them a digital dictionary.

    • Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml
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      8 hours ago

      Paper is a renewable resource, rare metals used in computers aren’t, and the contents of the dictionary will be the same either way

      • Tiresia@slrpnk.net
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        6 hours ago

        That’s really not true. Paper production takes a lot of (often non-renewable) energy, ink usually consists of non-renewable chemicals, paper is often harvested from nonrenewable destruction of forests (especially in the US with Trump’s plans to cut down national forests), paper production belches a lot of pollution into the air and pollutes a lot of water, etc.

        • Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml
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          5 hours ago

          The energy can be obtained from renewable sources any time we decide to quit fucking around and make it happen, wood pulp can be replaced with hemp far more easily than that and requires less chemical treatment in the process. There are no similar options for mitigating the negative impact of mining or making our supply of those metals any bigger.

      • tamal3@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        Yes but the process of obtaining the information is significantly more difficult. We can, you know, reuse the same 20 translation devices for years, and all kids have a laptop… I feel like you’re focused on the wrong thing.

        • Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml
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          5 hours ago

          In what universe is an electronic device being handled by children going to last 20 years? Not ours