Technology is developing every day as we move deeper into the future. As technology continues to advance, schools are integrating more technology use in classrooms.

Students use their laptops and the internet to do assignments for many of their classes or to take any tests and quizzes. “Students have access to Google Classroom and Blackboard and to a variety of other resources as well,” Orchestra teacher Larissa Marian said. “We use technology quite a little bit in orchestra. We use it as needed.”

In Fairfax County, every high school student receives a personal laptop at the start of every school year to use throughout the year for each of their classes.

Students will usually use their laptops a lot throughout one school day. “I use my laptop a lot throughout the school day,” sophomore Sajal Khan said. “By the time I get home at the end of the day, I need to charge it for tomorrow because it’s usually almost dead.”

The use of technology in classrooms can be very beneficial to students. Having computer skills will help students out in the long run. “I think it’s helpful for them [students] to have as much experience using computers to get a job done as possible since the reality of our world is that they’ll need those skills later on,” English teacher Kathleen Mathis said.

In addition, having assignments online makes it easier to turn their work in on time with a simple click of a button. They also don’t have to worry about keeping track of a paper copy. 

Aside from being helpful to students, technology also makes it easier for teachers on a daily basis. It can help them teach lessons to students and keep track of the students’ assignments more easily.

“I like using technology as much as I can as long as it is enhancing a lesson and not just technology to use it,” Mathis said.

Even though using technology in classrooms can be a positive thing, using too much of it can have a negative impact.

Many students spend a lot of their school day staring at screens since most of their assignments are online for a majority of their classes.

“I think that students should only use their laptops in school for a certain amount of time each day or when necessary,” Khan said. “It’s not good for their eyes to stare at a screen for too long.

Technology is a big part of our world today. We rely on it daily to help us get work done at school, but using too much technology in our classrooms can interfere with our social skills and our relationship with the outside world.

“I think it’s great that we integrate technology in everything we do,” Marian said. “But at the same time, I feel like this increasing connection to our technology may severe our connection to other aspects of our daily lives if we’re not careful.”