Beginning next school year, the campus policy on personal electronics will be changing to accommodate the ever-increasing dependence technology has on education.
While announced first quarter of this year, there has been no new news thus far further explaining when the the update to policy will commence. Back at the beginning of the school year, around September to be exact, Principal Dan Serrano stated that the update would most likely happen at the beginning of third quarter. Now that third quarter is long gone and the end of the school year is approaching, Serrano has changed the release time. “In all the paperwork you sign at the beginning of the year, [the policy change] will be in that packet,” Serrano stated.
Reasons for the allowance of Internet capable devices in the classroom date back to when students were first introduced to this planned change in school policy. At the beginning of the year Serrano explained that there is an ever-increasing benefit of having students use technology in the classroom. For instance, students will be able to take out their laptops to do research papers and other school-related activities in class (as long as the teacher allows it).
Much dedication and careful planning has gone into creating the potential of radical change in Perry. Many technology specialists around campus have put much time in making sure Perry’s wireless Internet was up to par to support many personal electronic devices. When spoken to in September of this year, Chris Babkis, one of the specialists, stated that Perry needed to create its own branch of Internet for student use so that the current system would not be overwhelmed with the addition of so many more devices.
While there is the possibility of cheating and misuse of personal electronics, Serrano and the district have established safety nets and regulations that will prevent most misuses. Serrano explained, “This school district will have all sorts of firewalls. It will be similar to using school computers.” However, students have found ways to get past school firewalls and have misused campus computers. Serrano believes this will definitely pose an issue next year.
Perry has always been a pretty modernized school with all of the technology and services it has available to its students, and it is refreshing to see the school continue with its modern legacy.
