Ever since COVID-19, many people have begun shifting from paper textbooks and classwork to the digital era, with almost everything — homework, classwork, and even some tests and quizzes completed online. It has turned out better than anticipated, despite the amount of work teachers have to do to manage everything online.
As time progresses, teachers have been working hard to ensure that students not only know what they need to enter colleges, but also have the skills needed to go out into the real world. After COVID-19, the skill to use technology became key to success in the workplace. Chemistry and Forensics teacher Jermaine Jackson believes that the digital movement is crucial for students.
“These skills become imperative to students as the world moves forward with technology,” Jackson said. “I think it’s beneficial because technology is always moving forward. So if we are not getting students used to operating technology, I think we’re doing them a disservice when it comes to preparing them for life after high school.”
Quickly after the pandemic began, Wake County began handing out Chromebooks to ensure students could continue to learn despite the lockdown. During that time, workplaces and schools quickly closed down or incorporated digital aspects. This created a massive shift from paper resources to digital resources, as teachers realized just how useful these small devices really are. The dependency on Chromebooks is increasing throughout the years, and although there are many positive aspects to it, teachers are finding that students can take advantage of it as well. The most pressing concern regarding this is academic integrity.
Jeren Hernandez, a Math teacher, feels that even with this shift, students will continue to find ways to get distracted and avoid learning.
“[Students] are smart enough to get around anything we put in your way. You don’t need to be playing games or being distracted. Until some of you learn not to be distracted, it’ll continue to be a battle,” Hernandez said.
The games students play during class are not the only way students’ integrity has been defiled. As the internet becomes openly available, there are more ways for students to cheat. One of these ways is through AI; despite Chat GPT being blocked now on school devices, there are still so many competing websites, such as Claude AI, Gemini, & Copilot out there that are just as capable of giving students answers.
Eric Scacht, a biology teacher, feels that students have forgotten the value of academic integrity at school.
“Copying things is very easy, both from the internet and from a friend. Students don’t even think of it as dishonest or cheating at this point,” Schact said. “It shows poor character.”
Despite all of the downsides of the Chromebook dependency, there are many benefits for both students and staff. One of these is the ability for students to keep everything more organized and in one place. The best part of this is student access to Google Drive. This not only allows them to remain organized, but to have the ability to share just one file, or entire folders, with peers and teachers for projects and assignments.
Joyce Deaton, the co-head librarian, is quite grateful for the resources students now have.
“You’ve got tools like Google Drive, and all the different [utilities] to create and manage your schoolwork,” Deaton said.
In addition, there are other interactive tools, such as Tinkercad or Delta Math, allowing students to do their work from almost anywhere. Overall, the digital shift has reshaped life in many aspects for both students and staff. Many of these are positive, however, some of them are not, and it is hopefully up to students to decide just how they want to live up to these standards, and learn no matter what.
“You all can, hopefully, learn from anywhere. It’s not necessarily that you will, but it makes it easier for us as your teachers to get your materials, even if you’re not here,” said Hernandez.
