In the last couple of years, CHS has had a couple of technological scares. Whether it be from entire district hacks, zoom errors, or plenty of students abusing the power of cool math games CHS and technology have not always gotten along. In light of these scenarios, the Claremont school district has had many red wall block attempts. The most notable was the cool math games ban; instituted after hundreds of students began to play cool math games and choose not to actually listen in class. When blocked, it seemed that the harms of blocking cool math games outweighed the benefits.
On campus, teachers utilize Canvas, but not all use iPads to their fullest potential. Many teachers still use paper over applications like notability. It is time to decide whether CHS should go back to its old ways or towards a more technological age in schooling.
The school’s power to block websites may appear daunting to many. The power is rightfully theirs no matter what. By law it is required schools put up these regulations but are these regulations as perfect as they can be? The blocking law or CIPA was mandated throughout all schools in America in 2003 when the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has the authority to require public schools and libraries receiving e-Rate discounts to install web filtering software as a condition of receiving federal funding. While CHS moves to more electronic devices in our schools, blocks will always be something students have to deal with. The red firewall of CHS is a mass code causing any little thing out of the ordinary to get blocked instantly. The most notable was the cool math games ban; instituted after hundreds of students began to play cool math games and forgot to actually listen in class. It seemed that the harms of blocking cool math games outweighed the benefits.
It is detrimental to students’ work this is apparent by the number of websites blocked that are needed at many times. Many students have come across a time where an important essay or report was due, but while looking for sources, necessary websites were blocked. Not that this is CHS’s fault as a whole, but due to the inexperience of the tech, and lack of knowledge on the firewall, which is so vague to the point where it blocks many websites for no real reason.
The real problem is those who still hang on to the age of paper. Many teachers hide behind the excuse that students remember more by writing, instead of typing when both can be accessed on iPads. With the school giving access to notability and stylists, it has become the point where all papers now create extra trash, which many students acknowledge and recognize. To the students it feels that during quarantine CHS did well on ipads rather than paper. This year just switched back to paper for many classrooms canceling out all progress.
Whether CHS decides to go fully electronic or stay at a teacher’s discretion, the schools’ lessons will not change. However, if the school wants to proceed towards a digital age, all must be on board. CHS students and teachers must work together to create a secure online environment that works for everyone.