Since the existence of Homo sapiens, humankind has progressively made more comfortable their living conditions by utilizing and developing the materials around them. But it was only in the 1960s where the digital era was first introduced, creating a whole new line of products that changed our world. Since then, technological innovation has been spreading into every nook and cranny of the world, including high schools.

Enter Mayfield High School, a little behind in the department of technology but speedily catching up with their 2017-2018 handheld device plan. This plan will grant a chrome book to every student in the high school, connecting them more intimately to their classes and teachers. It will also create a stronger Wi-Fi for the school, better enabling students to access the internet through their smart phones.

Implementation of the new technology will be supervised by the school’s principal and vice principal, and the process as whole, while not as swift as initially anticipated, will be easier than expected as the new technology is intended to help the classroom process instead of hindering it.

Jeffrey Legan, the principal of Mayfield High, believes that, other than keeping Mayfield up-to-date in an increasingly digital world, this technological update has many applications in a classroom setting.  He said, “I think that it’s going to give us more opportunity: In the science department, we’re going to be able to view surgeries taking place; in your Italian class, you’ll be able to take a tour of Italy. I just think it’s going to bring a lot of relevance to the curriculums here.”

Other staff members of MHS also think it’s important for a high school to be thinking about the future of their graduates and technology enables that kind of future awareness. “I think anyone that’s going out with a high school education, whether that is into the workforce or into college, they have to have the technological skills that are going to be required of them from this new environment and if they don’t, we’re doing them a disservice,” said Eric Frei, the assistant principal at Mayfield High School. “In most job settings now, you can’t say, ‘Oh, I’ve never used Microsoft Excel before; I don’t know anything about that.’ You’re just not going to get the job.”

Apart from preparing high school students for higher education and the work force, these new updates in technology are also meant to benefit the student-teacher relationship. Legan said, “I think in any [teaching] job it’s important to keep up with the times in order to be able to better connect with your students.”

Gina Burich, a French teacher at Mayfield High School, said, “I think it is imperative that we keep up with the times especially older generations that that are digital immigrants because, in this day and age, we are dealing with digital natives.” Burich relayed that she thinks keeping abreast of the technological developments that her students are currently utilizing is a critical part of her job.

Jennifer Hyland, a history teacher at Mayfield High, believes that having a good relationship with her students is essential as well. “The tech enables us as teachers to have a more intimate connection with our students,” said Hyland. “Instead of the classroom experience ending when the bell rings students can contact us with questions and other comments, utilizing the Google classroom emails that the school has set up for both teachers and students, for example.”

“Really I want students to be able to access educational resources anytime, anyplace. I don’t mean to downplay the importance of books – they are definitely a necessary part of our education but we have so many other educational resources and I just want to make sure that we tap into them all,” said Legan about the new innovations in connection with the education at MHS.