New technologies have become a growing benefit, if not a complete necessity for teachers and students alike. Computers are more prevalent, not only to write up papers in classes like journalism where the news can take on more forms than just the usual printed papers, but also for any class as technology is no longer optional, it is required.
“Just for journalism, we used to do it the old fashioned way,” said journalism teacher Kelli Taylor. “A lot of paper, money, and mailing went into it.”
This was in mid-2010, when they had to keep recycling old papers. Now, everything is online.
“We are definitely spending way more money now than before, but it was totally worth it,” Taylor said. “It’s greener, there’s no recycling, more content, and it’s easy to correct any mistakes. And, we can keep tweaking it and making it better.”
For the science department though, one is likely to find themselves watching entire lessons on a Promethean board, and then taking their notes with pen and paper, like every other class, “We take notes in biology, math, English, history. Pretty much every class,” said junior Yesenia Martinez. Dan Hounslow, conceptual physics teacher, has even begun using the board even to record his lectures, and posting them on the internet for absent students.
Recording lectures is nothing new, though. There has been a recent paradigm shift as this “convergence” continues within the classroom. Hundreds of video lectures are making it to a larger audience through sites like YouTube. Salman Khan created Khan Academy, devoting his time to making thousands of videos for the sole reason to “flip” the classrooms.
“[Flipping classrooms] has some validity,” Hounslow said. “Where does the teacher come in, though? It seems like there would be some kind of disconnect between the students and the teacher.”
As this is a slow process, there is still only so much teachers can do to make the learning process more interesting.
Hounslow said, “PowerPoints need time and thought to put together to try and keep you guys investing in my nonsense.”
Even though it is a slow process, technology is always growing in the classroom.
“There’s been talk about going bookless,” Hounslow said. “But that’s not for another five years down. Emphasis on the five years.”
