[derefr]

I would note that "screwing up your laptop" for a test written online, is a lot like "screwing up your pencil" for a test written on paper. A laptop can be borked, but it can also just have keys that break off, or other damage, some of which might be entirely accidental. Likewise, a student might snap their pencil in half or forget to bring it or grind it down to an unusable nub, but they also might just have a crap pencil where the lead got broken into little bits on the inside during shipping.

In the case of the pencil, I'd expect the student to just put up their hand and ask for a pencil to do the test with; and the teacher to begrudgingly provide them one—mostly due to the possibility of the accidental case.

Would that not be the case for school-issued laptops — just grab one from some cart of "extras" and tell the student to log into that one to do the test?

[ethbr0]

Fair point. In my mind, breaking your school laptop by modifying it is a bit like breaking your pencil by using it as a crowbar. Or if I used my textbook to level a table and the pages got stuck together.

The school owes you a working device, if they give device-requiring assignments.

But the responsibility passes to you once you modify or use that device outside of its default settings.

Which, IMHO, would be a great life lesson to teach!