By Cameron M. Bray ’16
THE ROUNDUP
Class time, dozens of screens illuminate the bright room.
Some students working, some playing, all eyes glued to the screen, fascinated by it.
This is Brophy’s reality.
Technology is a prominent tool at Brophy and comes with many benefits.
Juniors and seniors each have tablet PCs. Freshman and sophomores each carry iPads.
“I would consider it a supplement,” said Thaddaeus Petty ’14, a member of Brophy’s Technology Club. “It helps us get assignments done quicker and is very useful.”
Technology helps to improve communication between students, teachers and parents. Students now have the ability to email, message one another or a teacher at their finger tips, 24 hours a day.
“The communication that happens between students and teachers is just so many, many, many times greater than it was before,” said Mr. Jim Bopp, assistant principal for technology and instruction.
Before one-to-one computing students would have to ask a teacher for help in person. Now, a student can take a screenshot of a math problem and email it to the teacher and get help in a heartbeat.
“Technology is a key tool to allow us to get more done efficiently,” said Eric Hovagim ’16, another member of the Technology Club.
Computers or iPads hold textbooks, notebooks and other general tools such as calculators, dictionaries and more. This lightens the physical load students have to bare.
“It’s better than having to carry a bunch of books around,” said Andrew Kish ’17.
With something so complex and powerful as technology, there is a steep learning curve.
Incoming freshmen have to acquaint themselves with programs like Notability, Pages, Google Drive and more. They have to adjust to some of the complex user interfaces.
Tech users say students can be unsure at first how to work productively and can easily get distracted by games and other applications that can lead them to getting an Inappropriate Computer Use JUG.
Technology presents other challenges besides those attributed to freshmen.
Technology is fickle: Programs glitch, hardware breaks and online connections fail.
However, despite its issues, technology still remains an active asset on campus.
“I never hear anybody saying, ‘We need to go back to no technology,’” Mr. Bopp said.
