It is a fact that over the past 20 years, technology in classrooms is becoming more and more apparent everyday. There has been some controversy as to whether it is overall useful or not, and quite frankly we do not have a full understanding of the capabilities of technology. All we can do is interview communities and see how it has impacted them, and then compare them to the effects on the other communities.

Purdy, Washington is a community on the southern part of the Kitsap Peninsula, and many people there had interesting views on how technology has impacted them personally. Both students and teachers have things to say about their views on technology, and here are a few that spoke up about it. Kaitlyn Tucker said, who is a sophomore in high school, said “I feel like it’s diminishing because when you have your phone or any piece of technology you immediately get distracted by it just focusing on if it’s gonna go off, or what’s happening with it, what can I do next.” This shows that a student is recognizing that there are problems in the classroom, which could leave some to believe that technology is pretty much just not needed.

The perspective changes once you ask a teacher, Mrs. Marinelli is a Sophomore English teacher in high school and she had said “I think it’s neutral because technology is neither good nor evil. It’s a thing, it’s neutral. Its both. For some students it’s really diminishing to their learning because they’re addicted to their phone, they’re using social media. But for other students it’s super beneficial.” Since a teacher is saying that it does have beneficial purposes, maybe it really does since teachers are the ones that are implementing the technology into the classroom for the students use, but of course it really depends on how the student uses the technology.

It seems that technology could really be both good and bad, is there a way that you can utilize technology to where it maximizes its use for academic purposes? Mrs. Gillis thinks so. She is a spanish teacher in high school and  she said “Bringing in the parents can help at home, definitely, but it is important to teach them how to use it properly because its necessary for the real world. It is not about taking it away it is about teaching them because it is the world we live in.” Maybe it is that way, if students are using their technology as a distraction then the parents should be contacted because they do manage what happens in the student’s life.

So overall, in this community, between staff and students it seems that there are people that think that technology is good, or is bad. It really does depend on how it is introduced, how it is used, and what its certain purposes are. There is no telling how technology in the future will impact us as students, all we can do is wait and see.