By: Renee Rohani
Business Manager

When I was in sixth grade, logging in to the school server was a 10-minute procedure. Today, students at CHS work on their laptops in class and complete projects on Macs all with a few simple clicks.

Juniors Drew Hull and Krish Suresh use their laptops to take notes during spanish class. Photo by Aditi Shrikant

We’ve come a long way, but we’re not done yet. The world of technology seems to be improving faster than anyone can keep up with it.

As high school students, we are told to be prepared for the “real world” and the looming threat of college. Yet how can this be possible if schools do not provide classroom tools that allow for students to readily face opportunities outside of these high school walls?

You’ve got to admit they’re trying.

The new laptop policy allowing students to bring personal laptops into the classroom served as a good starting point. Students began to realize Web sites like Facebook and YouTube were no longer blocked on our school server. Contrary to popular belief, this is not by mistake. Dean of Instruction Gina Peddy said the administration felt with the growing use of laptops in class, it was sensible for students to have access to Web sites that are popularly used as a means of sharing ideas.

English teacher Nannette McMurtry gives her students the option to hold class discussions and debates about news articles in the form of a Facebook thread where students post comments and reply to each other’s comments. And I’m sure every student has been in a class where a teacher has played a YouTube video as part of a lesson. Although not designed for educational use, these web sites have had a world of difference in conveying lessons or providing newer, more exciting ways for class discussion.

Web sites such as Ning are taking CHS by storm, popping up in classrooms all over the school. On Ning, students post thoughts, ideas, comments and even share videos and documents with each other with a few simple clicks. Ning gives students a new, different way to shape and form views rather than simply talking in a classroom.

Not to mention there’s a whole world of versatility. In calculus, our teacher sets up an online Ning chat the night before a test. Students log in to their Ning and post questions they have while the teacher posts answers, essentially providing an online tutoring session right from your home computer.

In Macroeconomics, I’ve been learning about efficiency. In what way can I do something so it requires the least amount of effort and time? That’s exactly what these Web sites allow us to do. Class discussion can take place over the waves of the Internet just as effectively as in a classroom. Students have the power of the Internet at their fingertips to form views, research opinions and generate discussion.

Many teachers and even students complain too much technology is causing classrooms to lose a personal feel. Because of the growing use of technology on college campuses, however, high schools must implement technology as well.

Truthfully, we don’t have a choice. Whether we like it or not the world is changing. When a disastrous earthquake hit Haiti leaving citizens in peril, unaffected people thousands of miles away could instantly text a donation of $10 with a simple press of a button. Who would have thought this possible 10 years ago? The world is constantly thinking in terms of faster, easier and more efficient technology. If schools do not adjust to the needs, they’ll simply be left in the dust.

With a demanding global society and an entire realm of undiscovered technological capabilities to be unraveled, I only have one thing to say, CHS:

Blog on.

For a look at the other side of this argument, click here