Taylor Connard

Education 650

Standard Activity 4.19D

Clay County High School currently is not 1:1 with technology. The school has three

working computer labs, but they do not have enough working computers for entire class periods.

Around four teachers have laptop labs, but they typically utilize those daily and cannot share

with others. It can be a challenge to use technology effectively in this environment. I chose to

use my own classroom observations for this assignment.

In order to use laptops in my classroom, I have to arrange it with the 10th grade English

teacher. She has a functioning laptop lab that she is willing to share with me. Once I arrange to

use her laptops, I go over before class and grab them. I have the students log in and begin the

lesson. It can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes to get logged in and field technology issues.

Our domains go down frequently and the internet is also unreliable. Once they are on, they can

access their assignment. For this assignment, my class was researching Lores and Legends from

different states. They had to choose a lore or legend and then pick a creative assignment to do.

On this day many of the computers had been used for SAT testing and were locked under the

admin login. Once I exchanged those, we were set. At the end of class, due to Covid-19, we have

to clean the laptops with disinfectant. This process of logging off and cleaning the computers

typically takes 5 to 10 minutes. I have to then take the computers back across the hall so that she

can use them for her class.

Using technology is a huge challenge at the high school. My day of using it has its

struggles, but it does not even touch the surface of what typically happens on a normal day. Our

servers are not equipped to handle many people using the WIFI and therefore it goes out
frequently. The laptops, even though they are new to us, are typically used and not in the best

condition to begin with. Some teachers have iPads, but they need updated and do not work for

typing papers.

Our current situation with Covid-19 is that the county has pushed IXL and Teams for us

to utilize daily. These programs are technology-based programs that we are required to teach the

kids how to use. The county realized that we cannot use this technology without technology to

do it with. The superintendent made an announcement that every student would receive a laptop

by the end of October. It is November and we have yet to see that happen. We cannot utilize

technology and teach our students 21st century technology skills if we do not have the means to

do so.

The feelings of frustration with technology extend far beyond me. I spoke with many

other teachers with different contents who feel equally as frustrated. The History teachers all

decided to only use Teams with no paper trail when the superintendent announced the students

were getting laptops. They are struggling to find the technology in the school to make do while

those laptops are “coming.” Math teachers have iPads that have yet to be set up, but are required

to have their students using IXL.

Our county has to realize that we are struggling to teach our students technological skills

that they will need. We must get more funding to increase the technology in the schools. If

laptops are available to students, we need to get them out to the students quickly. Covid-19 is

showing no signs of stopping, so we have to make sure our students have the ability to do

distance learning with the required technology needed.