In this article of "Making Mona Lisa Smile" it talks about how a facial recognition software can detect your mood. It is brough up in paragraph six that this software should be introduced into classrooms. Classrooms are already getting technologically advanced and are gaining more expenses from this as well. Adding Facial Action Coding Systems to students' computers will just add unwanted price increases, pointless space takeup, and more complexity to computers in our classrooms.

Adding this Facial Action Coding System (FACS) will just add on to the expenses that schools are already putting into place just to add on to the technology that people are trying to push into schools. If a school of lower income tries pushing this system, taxes and school payments will be greatly increased on parents that might not even want this system at all. Although richer schools may be able to afford this software, it will definitely take money away from sections of the school that actually might need attention such as athletics or even music and art classes. Money saved from not buying a software that is just a want and not a need can fork money over to parts of schools that actually need the money. This software is not a necessity and if bought, can take away money from areas that need attention. Not only is the price not needed to be added to, but this software may not even help students in the classroom.

Students in schools with enough money to give students their own laptops usually have used a lot of money on these already expensive devices. Laptops in schools are most usually used to help students who are sick at home to stay connected to their teachers to get assignments. Other uses for the laptops range from eliminating paper and also researching. The FACS software just adds another layer of complexity to the laptops. In paragraph six, the author talks about how the software can see your reaction to ads on screens and adjust new ads to this facial expression. Not only can you be frowning for other reasons than your computer, but if you are doing schoolwork, why does it matter if you are mad or happy? Laptops are to get work done and get through school to help you research and understand topics more. Laptops are not for fun but are tools to help you succeed in school by helping you learn topics applied by the teachers. This software could be extremely helpful at home, but at school it just makes the laptops more complex than they need to be.

If a laptop is being used in school, it is being used as a tool to eliminate paper and help teachers connect to students on a higher level. These laptops are already complex enough to have several tabs at once, documents eliminating paper usage, and also have online textbooks. Some students who are not very educated in technology may see some information gathered and used by laptops to seem very confusing and maybe even frightening. Adding this FACS to laptops at schools will just change how students are seeing their laptops and can be switched around by students making faces at it. If a student is very sad and looks at the computer, it may make things happier and more colorful, but what happens when somebody is very happy? Will the computer turn dark and very bland to make them sad? The software will add another layer to these already complex devices that is not needed. The software may be a want in the eyes of people trying to make school more enjoyable, but this software is merely useless in connection to learning experience. Even with all of these negatives, there are some positives in that some genuinely sad individuals using this software can be cheered up and will actually begin to pay attention to their screens. This software has many negatives but at the same time might actually be used for good in schools that can afford it and still have money left over.

All in all, this software may be helpful to those outside of classrooms, but in reality it may be too expensive for some to implement into these already expensive devices. FACS at its worst will be a price increase, an unneeded software, and a system that will add complexity to these laptops. But, FACS at its best can greatly increase moods of poeple who have acquired this software in hopes of it increasing moods and helping students focus. This software should be relatively unexpensive which will give schools the ability to talk to families about implementing this software into laptops to help students learn. If a school can afford this software and it is approved by families, this definitely can help students focus unless this is too expensive for schools but is added anyways. To conclude, this software is somewhat useless in a way but it is completely up to the school corporation and the families of the school to decided if this should be implemented into our daily lives.