Technology Surveys at UHS

As many students may recall, surveys on technology were conducted during PE hours in the computer lab about a month ago.

These surveys questioned UHS students on everything from their personal opinions on using cell phones and iPods in school, to whether or not they found iPads used in class useful to the lesson being taught.

The survey was done to further understand the student body’s opinion of technology used in class. Students across Urbana High School are all well-aware of the policies: cell phones, iPods, and other uses of technology are not allowed during school hours-whether that is in the hallways, the classrooms, or during lunch in the cafeteria.

The argument is that allowing a student to use any technological device–like a cell phone–during class not only disrupts the learning environment by distracting students, but also is a gateway to cheating on tests and increased degradation of student performance.

However, many students find that other uses of technology, like listening to music on their iPods or MP3s is an easy way to find peace throughout their school day, and that if there is a study hall or silent reading day, etc., they should be allowed to listen to their music. The counterargument to that is that other students may be distracted by music being played too loudly or be inspired to use their cell phones as well.

Junior Brian Campbell-Deem said: “Usage of cell phones and other intercommunicative devices should be allowed under certain circumstances which involve someone calling for a ride or such other situations. I also think that even though I generally believe that the disclusion of usage of technological devices during all-school hours is understandable, certain situations such as lunch hours, the intermediary period given during half-days for lunch hours to students with lunch periods, and other times like that, the allowance of devices such as phones or iPods should be less restricted than they normally would.”

The survey recently conducted was to see if students shared an opinion similar to that of Campbell-Deem or had different thoughts. The results are likely to vary thanks to the diversity of students in UHS, and will surely affect any future choices on rules regarding technological devices on school grounds during school hours.

Results of the recent surveys ended up being extremely interesting: overall, 92.2 percent of students at UHS stated that they should be able to use personal electronics while at school, while 7.8 percent disagreed with that statement. The results also went to show that 38.5 percent of students use technology during school daily, while the percentages for weekly, monthly, and yearly usage were comparably less. Lastly, these surveys proved that 61.3 percent of students used technology after school hours for school work.

Additionally, after asking the students to rate which would be most beneficial to them among objects like iPads, Smartboards, Digital Textbooks, and Projectors, students immediately selected the obvious favorite: access to personal devices was rated highest for most beneficial, ranking around 68.3 percent. Close candidates were personal devices for each student, at 65.4 percent, and a laptop cart at 60 percent.