Upperclassmen are reflecting on the benefits and drawbacks of 1:1 technology in the high school amidst a network disruption that started over Labor Day Weekend, the first time disconnect from technology was experienced in their high school career.
Senior Cassie Rodrique feels that the benefits of being 1:1 with technology outweigh the drawbacks.
“I think the pros are definitely more than the cons,” Rodrique said. “Even if people talk about the cons more, I think it was really nice to have to know that each student had the same accessibility because it made work easier and more accessible.”
Junior Gina Smyth feels the benefits include a level of added convenience.
“A benefit was being able to work on things whenever you want,” Smyth said. “Now that we don’t have [school issued devices] I realize how little I can do in my study hall… now I have to save all that online work until I get home, which makes me appreciate [having school devices] more.”
Senior Jenny Sidarous also expresses that there was more convenience with the 1:1 technology.
“It’s kind of inconvenient because there are still all these assignments that I prefer to type up and so I have to wait to get home to type it up,” Sidarous said.
According to Rodrique, she finds some of these inconveniences and new challenges interesting.
“Personally, I am always a fan of when things go awry, because I enjoy chaos,” Rodrique said. “I guess I just like experiencing things like these for the first time and being a guinea pig.”
Rodrique expresses that the time away from computers has been “great.”
“I felt like I had less homework and I liked not being able to see my grades, because it was less stress. Even the teacher communication issued just kind of just resolved as more solutions were being brought forth,” Rodrique said.
Sidarous reflects on the first barriers when 1:1 technology was first introduced, remembering that the slow network posed difficulty.
“In the beginning it was hard because the internet was really slow and sometimes I could not get onto the internet,” Sidarous said.
Rodrique expresses experiencing feeling like her education was a priority when she first received her school issued device.
“It just felt nice to have a computer given by the school it felt like we were a priority,” Rodrique said.
Similar to Sidarous, Rodrique experienced trouble in reconnecting to different networks when 1:1 technology was first introduced.
“WiFi was really hard to connect to going into school and then home, just reconnecting to the different WiFis was always a pain,” Rodrique said.
According to Rodrique, Sidarous, and Smyth, they are ready to get access back to the network and the ability to do work online.
“The use of a lot of paper like we are using is bad for the environment,” Sidarous said.
“I’m happy that we’re getting it back,” Rodrique said. “It will be good for getting assignments and having more assignments which I am happy for. I am kind of sad that this journey is coming to an end with these escapades.”