Let’s address the major problem that’s been going around the school for the past month. Technology. The technology issues are piling up as the year goes on and they keep recurring.
These issues range from CK Express to battery problems and the school needs to bring some attention to this issue.
At the beginning of August, computers were given out to over 2,700 high school students. Once school actually started the computers were loading on this browser extension called CK Express, which is the server that helps our computers run and block unwanted sites. But because the extension wasn’t loading right, Chromebooks everywhere were loading for minutes on end. When they did load, there would be a screen that said something along the lines of retrying connection. This would show up during classes and students could never get anything done. Students had homework for assignments that should’ve been finished during school hours because of this extension. The technology department worked on this issue for the first three weeks.
Once that problem was solved, sorta, another issue struck many students. Chromebooks weren’t charging correctly. When students would go into technology to fix it they would give them a new Chromebook, test it out and everything was ok with it. Until a couple days later when the same problem recurred. Technology is doing their best, but it isn’t enough for what students need in order to succeed in academics.
Another problem was the internet – not with Google, but with Wi-Fi. Because of how many students the school has, the internet can be slow when everyone on campus is trying to get on their computers. Along with that, Willis is growing more and more. Thousands of homes are being built in the area and new families are calling Willis home every day. With more people, the internet is slowing down which conflicts with how much class time students get to finish all the work they have. And teachers need to submit attendance before a certain time. If the internet is slow, then the teachers and students can’t meet deadlines.
Also, students are fixing Chromebooks. If they were educated on the issue then why are students going back to technology? These students, along with the normal everyday high schoolers, have tried every trick in the book for any problem they would have; restarting the computer, signing out and back in, hard resets to the computer, pressing random buttons, etc. Students in technology have even taken the Chromebooks apart to fix them. But when the problems kept going, it caused students to work on assignments at home, after school hours, or during another class period, which set them back a bit and added more to their plate. When an assignment had a deadline and students couldn’t work on it in class, they got a low grade or had extended assignments. This means teachers can’t put grades in on time which also affects the students and their stress capacity; it’s going through the roof. Technology works on these problems to this day and they do a great job, but when new or existing problems show up non-stop, this makes students question the capabilities of the technology department.
When students come into technology, they expect their computer to be fixed and not malfunction over and over again. They expect their Chromebooks to be set up before school starts and the stress of education is put upon them. Students need more experts for these problems other than some students fixing the Chromebooks when the main technology expert can’t. Bring in more experts or go back to paper. It’s easier to give paper assignments than to give an assignment that takes centuries to load.
