Whether it be from a bad case of the sniffles or a recent death in the family, every student tends to miss school every once in awhile. In the past when these things happened, you were left behind in your classes and returned to school with piles of work. But thanks to technology, students now have the option to turn in and receive work from our teachers wherever they may be.

This year, two learning management systems, NEO and Google Classroom, complement the newly distributed Chromebooks in an effort to better utilize technology and integrate it into our classrooms.
Michael Daly, social studies teacher, has been one of the few teachers who seem to understand the programs and has been actively using it in his classrooms.

“I was already using Google Docs, and Google Classroom made sharing documents not such a nightmare” said Daly.

Sara Betancourt, Spanish teacher, has also made efforts to use NEO LMS in her classes.

“I blended a lot of stuff i teach with it, it’s a lot more at the student’s pace and allows them to retake quiz and do better, which hopefully helps them learn in the end.” said Betancourt.

While the programs have presented new opportunities for students to work collaboratively with their teachers, new problems have also come along.

“The training over the summer was for NEO LMS, and Google Classroom didn’t have a training sessions so I don’t use it. I’ve heard that it’s great and worthwhile but I’m not really tech savvy so I didn’t know enough to be comfortable playing around with it” said Betancourt.

Even Daly, someone who seems to grasp Google Classroom a little better than most, has concerns.
“Even though it allows everyone’s papers and grades to be stored in one place, it takes double work to enter both in SISK” said Daly.

Since this is the first year students have been issued Chromebooks, it is expected that all of the kinks associated with teachers having to tailor their teaching styles to the new addition have not been worked out yet.

Chief Technology Officer Scott Gowan believes that in time as teacher become more accustomed to using these resources, they will use it more often and eventually use it to their advantage.

“Teachers will adopt it as they see the benefits that it provides for their students and themselves.” said Gowan.