When students came back from distance learning, classrooms looked a little bit different. They are used to seeing TVs in their homes, not in schools. They have seemingly taken over in both environments.

There are advantages and disadvantages of this impactful change, however do the negatives outweigh the positives?

“I think [the Central Office] felt that the collaborative monitors would be [better] from a cost perspective and the fact that they can put more in more rooms would be more beneficial,” said Kathryn Koscinski, Freedom High School assistant principal.

Teachers are used to being able to touch the screen and teach in front of the classroom, but recently they have had to overcome this difficult obstacle of not being able to do any of those things.

In regards to if this change is permanent, the smart boards were supposed to arrive this summer, but the company providing them was back-ordered Koscinski said. 

As of now there isn’t a definitive answer as to why the Prometheans were taken out of the classrooms in the first place, but we can speculate that the original intent was cost, availability and contract agreement. 

“They take [into consideration] how old your school is, when’s the last time your equipment was updated, what school’s needed before other schools,” Koscinski said.

While students do have touch-screen Chromebooks, collaboration and ownership of work in classrooms has taken a hit. Currently, there is encouragement that Prometheans will enter the classrooms once again.