With the fairly new iPad program under way, it seems that every one has an iPad on his or her desk at the beginning of each class.

Well, everyone except for me.

Now, for most of us who don’t have one, it’s generally because we are not enrolled in an “iPad using class.” However, many non-iPad teachers seem to believe their classes are.

This creates numerous awkward moments in almost all my classes when my teachers ask, “Who has an iPad?” and about 95 percent of the students raise their hands. Of course, the teacher gets all excited that they don’t have to give a boring lecture about a particular subject, and respond, “Okay, everyone take out your iPads and look up what the Victorian Era was all about and fill out this worksheet while you’re at it.”

So I normally sit in my seat twiddling my thumbs waiting for someone to ask what the students who do not have this technology should do instead. Usually, teachers are accommodating and just tell you to use your phone or share with someone who does have an iPad. However, if any of you are like me and turn your phone off during class (I’m guessing I am the only one… that’s okay), then getting your cell phone out is a slight inconvenience and a battery waster. And sharing is oddly hard for most people.

While some teachers try to accommodate those who do not have the same technological capabilities as their classmates, other teachers are not always this way.

For the “lucky” non-iPad holders, we get the option to go rent a laptop that takes about a century to log on, or we get to run around the school looking in computer labs attempting to find a semi-quiet, free, pretty fast machine to type our work.

If students are not enrolled in an iPad class, they should not have to run all over the school wasting precious writing time when the teacher could have done the assignment without excluding those without the technology.

At the end of the year, when teachers start to plan for the big return in August, they need to think, “Hmm, is there a remote chance I may want my students to use technology for something in class?” Even if the possibility is slight, just sign yourself up for the iPad program.

People need to understand that it’s extremely obnoxious to have teachers hand you class work that requires the use of technology in a non-technology class.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for the use of iPads, smart phones, and so on in classes. It’s more engaging, and since students can visualize lessons, they can understand the material better. However, incorporating something that not every student has access to is not fair and will leave them out of the full impact of a lesson.

Going forward, teachers need to become more aware that not everyone has the same technology—this will require planning ahead. Also, if we are going to give iPads to almost all of the student body, then just give them to everyone.

And my final note, if teachers take anything away from this, please take this last bit with you: if you don’t have an iPad class, don’t use the iPads in your lessons.