During a past Trojan Time a new form of election polling was tested. It didn’t go well. Within minutes of an electronic ballot going live to students for the purposes of voting, the entire process had gone to catastrophe with a simple mistake on the form allowing students to edit, delete, or add options to their vote, hold or stop voting, and generally destroy the sanctity of the entire affair.

This incident was a brush with misuse of technology, an unexciting and even comical one, but it still shows the state of the district with regards to modernization. There has been much talk since USD 501 went 1-1 with Chromebooks in an attempt to modernize the classroom and better utilize resources with the internet and new technology now available.

Some came out against the idea of newfangled technologies being added to classes while others embraced the changes. Now this divide is becoming apparent in the district. With the influx of new tools at teachers fingertips, it was only a matter of time before mistakes were made and tools misused.

How is this to be combated?

There has been a surge of instructions for the student pertaining to using the Chromebook but instruction to teachers seems to be less well received. The image of a teacher fumbling with new technology is not new to the field of education but with highly advanced equipment becoming more prevalent, it is increasingly important that teachers stay ahead of the times willingly.

Technology is a boon to education, and while it may not be applicable to every situation in the classroom, it should be embraced and recognized for its true potential.