By Ryan Afable
Textbooks and paper assignments have been slowly pushed out of rotation in schools in recent years. This has made many people start to wonder if Chromebooks and other technologies are a good resource for schools.
Paper was the main tool in teaching years ago and it makes you wonder why we switched off it. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, everyone had to use Chromebooks since we were all stuck inside and had to use zoom to learn. The use of computers also allows for easier grading and online tools like Google Classroom. When Intro to Law teacher Mrs. Morgan was asked about why we switched, she stated, “I think it is a movement that started in the workplace, and COVID probably accelerated it.” When fellow freshman Brian Reynolds was asked about this, he said, “People see technology as a way to advance and it is easier to get a hold of.”
Chromebooks have many pros to using them in an educational setting. The first thing is that it helps bridge the gap between low income and high income students, since everyone can get the same amount of use from the Chromebooks. They are helpful, since anyone can use them. They are pretty easy to understand and allow access to the internet, which is both a pro and a con. According to Mrs. Morgan, “Because we no longer have lockers at the high school, it is a nice option to access online textbooks.” When asked about the benefits of having Chromebooks at school, Brian Reynolds said, “It gives another device to do many activities on and we can do our school work much more easily.” When Trent Garton, another BHS student, was asked, he said, “It gives students easy access to information and we don’t need to print out assignments.”
The final question was do you think there is an over reliance on Chromebooks. A research study done by the Institute of Education Sciences found that “About half of the teachers reported that their students’ access to technology and the Internet outside of school has a moderate (28 percent) or large (20 percent) influence on the homework they assign to them.”
Chromebooks have both benefits and negative effects. It’s just a matter of how they are used, as they really open up a lot of possibilities in school environments.
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