Students in the Digital Age
by Ashlyn Finkbeiner
I think every student can agree that one of the most satisfying sounds is at the end of class hearing everyone shove paper into their backpacks and binders while they are getting ready to leave. Lately, that sound seems to be dying down.
Schools have been trying to conform students to the “online only” world these past few years and now CCA is following right behind. Since the start of this year the media center has made it so only a select few computers in the back of the room can actually print. This doesnʼt seem like it would be that big of an issue until all of your teachers assign you to print 30 pages by the next day.
In certain classes, especially math, students are assigned to print a packet that can be anywhere from 20 to 40 pages long, usually. Then, you have to print articles for English and history, probably an assignment or two for science, and it all eventually adds up. It used to be easy to go to the media center and have everything set up for you to print right away but now we are being asked to do it at home or to just not print at all.
The media center seems to have already made the transformation from paper to online so, what about the rest of CCA? If you ask anybody they will tell you that it is time for our school to become more electronically based. Meaning that most or all of our reading and homework should be done on some sort of electronic device.
The problem with this is not only the still standing need for printing computers but also the fact that not all students have a nice computer or tablet that is accessible to them and, being a public school there is no way that CCA will be able to require that to be able to attend classes.
Another issue is that it seems as though not all of CCA is aware that this change is being made. I come home every day and the first thing it do is print my homework. In order to really be able to transform the school into a more digitally based environment, all of CCA has to come together and decide on how homework will be assigned so that it can be done mostly online or without the use to paper.
By encouraging us to become more technology based, schools are asking us to give up paper, pens, pencils, and countless other school supplies that we have been buying for years. A few years from now, will the average CCA student even be carrying a binder? These are all things to think about as CCA transforms from students taking notes with paper and colorful pens to students in the digital age.