Students and teachers received a pleasant surprise this year when they were presented with many new forms of technology. These nifty new devices include new Chromebooks and Dell laptops, which have given everyone the chance to get even more creative with their assignments.  

While the school may have had iPads last year, we have received more of these Apple© devices, much to the students delight. There are currently five iPad carts going around the school–Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Fritch and Mr. Waghorne each have one iPad cart in their classrooms, and two more in the library. “Students are much more familiar with this type of technology,” said Canyon Vista technology specialist Mrs. Lind, “This makes the learning curve of not understanding assignments dramatically smaller.”

Canyon Vista also received an upgrade when we replaced the old netbooks with new Chromebooks and Dell computers. “These new computers have a faster startup time, and increase learning time. Plus, the teachers don’t have to worry about these devices falling apart,” Lind said, “There are also thousands of Google apps, allowing students to experiment with new tools.” The computers also have Google Classroom and Google Drive, a service that allows teachers and students to assign and share assignments. “It’s a lot easier to turn in assignments,” said sixth grader Evan Gentle in Mrs. Johnson’s Language Arts class, “I can turn in my assignments with the click of a button instead of fishing it out of my binder, and it saves a lot of paper. Also, the search button makes doing research really easy.”

Canyon Vista may have become a BYOD school last year, but now that we are accustomed to it, the system has become much more organized. The school also has a better idea of how to operate with this technology. The new technology has better hardware, and tons of features, making student and teacher interaction even easier. When students are allowed to bring in devices that they are accustomed to using, it makes the process less complicated for them. For those who can’t bring their own device, they have just as much of a chance to do well at school, because of the up-to-date technology at our school. However, as Mrs. Lind said, “Have a balance of technology in your life. Respect it wisely, and use it to solve problems. Use the resources wisely, and make sure you respect others online.” This is just the beginning for new uses of technology at Canyon Vista. With technology and software always improving, you can be sure that we will get more upgrades in the future.