On Wednesday, November 28, Arrowhead will be holding a 30 minute homeroom, allowing the students to take the Speak Up Survey.  Students will receive an email with the link to the surveys.

The homeroom was intended to occur on November 14. However, due to school wide technical difficulties, the homeroom was postponed.

In an email sent to the Arrowhead staff, Donna Smith, the Director of Library Media & Technology, said Arrowhead would be participating in the survey so the school could better understand how technology is being used in class and on homework. Students’ responses will be confidential and will only be used by the district and at the national level for educational technology decision-making.

According to the Speak Up website, “Speak Up is a unique research project designed to collect and report on the authentic, unfiltered ideas and views of K-12 students and their parents, teachers and administrators.”

The Speak Up website says they focus their work around three main goals. One of which is providing local schools and districts with the ability to listen and work on the ideas of their stakeholders. Speak Up says they try to provide a platform for education stakeholders, mainly students, to talk about concerns or questions regarding state or national policies and programs. They say they also want to encourage new local discussions about the use of technology for educational purposes.

While students will be completing the survey in class; parents, educators, and other members of the community can complete it as well. In order to take the survey, first go to the Survey Website. Next, choose a role from the drop-down menu. The roles include Educators, Parents, or Community. Follow the instructions given to access the survey. Enter the school zip code or click on the drop down button to select Wisconsin. Once Arrowhead is chosen, proceed to filling out the survey.

Lily Stemper, a junior at Arrowhead, says she believes technology has improved her overall experience at school. Stemper says she uses her computer for almost every class.

During class, Stemper mainly uses her laptop to write papers, research topics, share google docs, and log into Canvas.

When asked if there were any negatives to using technology in class, Stemper said, “Kind of that it can be a distraction, and that it’s easy to not submit an assignment and get away with it.”

Stemper says she wishes Arrowhead didn’t have restrictions on certain Youtube videos. She says she enjoys watching videos that aide her in understanding class information.

Carson Anderson, another Arrowhead junior, says he uses his technology in all of his classes except Gym. He says he uses a lot of technology in Spanish for different quizzes and studying games like Kahoot. Other than that, Anderson uses google documents in several classes throughout the day.

Anderson says he almost always uses technology for his homework, whether its researching a topic or participating in an online-class discussion.

Anderson believes having technology in class has improved his learning and overall school experience.

In respects to technology, Anderson says, “It makes it more fun and engaging for the class.”

For more information on the Speak Up Survey, check out the Arrowhead Speak Up page.