MANO Y MANO

Shane Morehead, Staff Writer

By the end of this year, there will be a Chromebook for each student at Heritage High School. The computers will be payed for by E-SPLOST, a tax that takes a penny from every dollar spent in Catoosa County, and uses that money to help schools. Just the computers themselves will cost roughly $350,000, not to mention chargers. An agreement will have to be signed saying that you are able to take care of them. People will be held responsible for damages caused by abuse or irresponsibility. However, most of us should be able to handle it. Students will be able to take them home and use them at school. Chris Douglass, our media specialist and authority on all things Chromebook, thinks that this plan will revolutionize education. This will take learning to the cloud. Everything will be accessible everywhere by everybody. You won’t be able to say that your dog ate your homework, unless your dog can swallow a whole laptop. If that’s the case, you should be more worried for your own safety. Charging stations around the school will keep your computers battery alive. A complete Wi-Fi re-do will also be taking place soon, so that students can use the devices properly. This evolution is already catching on around the country. Starting late allows the school to learn from everybody else’s mistakes, such as purchasing cheap devices and paying the price. Something this massive will take some time for people to adjust to, but when they do; our classrooms will be as infinite as our potential.