In Orono schools, administration and staff have used numerous new technologies to work with over the past two years. With the work of technology specialists, the schools are getting updates to technology and infrastructure that are reciving primarily positive feedback.
“We went through a period of time where we were having to make a lot of upgrades… We have caught up on a lot of the updates and infrastructure that we need,” Director of Technology Sean Beaverson said.
With new improvements within the school’s infrastructure, many of the past issues of poor internet connection and spotty WiFi have been fixed. As a result of these improvements, students are experiencing fewer interruptions in their learning.
“With the recent improvements this year, I haven’t had any frustrations or major issues for the first time with the school internet” junior Vincent Monico said.
Beyond infrastructure, the upgraded technology at Orono benefits teachers by enabling them to create more detailed work within the curricula through the use of newer technologies such as artificial intelligence.
“Even as a lot of this emerging technology and AI is newer, it still has made it so much easier to create materials that fit our classes,” Digital Learning Specialist and Spanish teacher Paul Ivers noted.
Similar to this, the new additions of digital boards in the classrooms have been implemented, allowing for a better learning experience for students by allowing faster and more efficient new tech.
“The new technology in Orono has benefited my learning as a result of its improvements, especially with the new boards many of my classes have been smoother and haven’t had as many issues as in the past.” Jack Munsch notes.
All of these improvements in technology are about providing the most modern learning environment for students.
“By going digital from analog… it is less about the panel in the front of the room than upgrading the environment so that it is more flexible to modern standards,” Beaverson explained.
The new improvements within Orono schools create new opportunities for teachers to further their learning in their classes, but for some more specialized teachers, additional technological advancements to their classes are still desired.
“If you asked me last year or two years ago, I would say the technology in my classroom wasn’t up to standard… But I have new computers this year and other updates… but I would love to have a new laser cutter to use for my classes… that would be the ideal thing” Industrial Technology teacher Mark Vaander Haar explained.
Orono’s new and rising technology benefits many in the school today, though it has been difficult for many of the students and teachers to obtain the technology the have this very day.