As Taft Union High School progresses, so does the technology used by the school. Recently, Taft Union’s freshmen class have been blessed with newer modeled laptops to use for their remaining years attending the high school. Students admire the new design and newer features to the laptops. “Everything gets done faster; you don’t have to write everything down,” freshman C.J. Phillips said. “You could use the keyboard on the screen. It takes up less space.”

When prompted why the freshmen received new devices, Director of Education Technology & Curriculum Innovations, Stacey Stansberry explained, “We buy new computers each year. Freshmen keep their computers all four years so they don’t get someone else’s damaged [machine].” According to Stansberry, new sets of freshmen received the most up-to-date devices to enhance the learning process. “We buy the same model or fairly close to the same model and it’ll have a slight upgrade. The previous version is now obsolete, so we switched to the newer version,” Stansberry told student press.

To keep the laptops operational and safe, first period teachers included tips and computer care lessons for students both new and old. “We are doing training…with students, on devices, and digital censorship, being kind to others online, [and] what to do before you post things about home life or at school life,” Stansberry explained. One tip from Stansberry is to, “make sure you don’t put them in bags with heavy books. It could crack the screen or create pressure points,” Stansberry said.

As useful as one-to-one devices are, students are concerned about certain websites being blocked. “We’d need to use YouTube for educational videos and stuff,” Phillips explained. Fortunately, Gusher press addressed Stansberry on the matter.  “We’re trying to filter all the bad out, and still allow educational sites…We’re working on it,” Stansberry clarified.