At the beginning of the school year, Rockwood National Education Association (RNEA) representative Lee Mitchell, head librarian, fielded many complaints from teachers regarding technology in the building. “Things can’t be ordered until the new budget year starts, so it’s hard to have everything working on the first day of school,” Mitchell said.

However, the technical difficulties have persisted. The copy machines break down frequently, teachers have difficulties with the laptop docking stations and the new setup of computers in the Writing Center have caused complications.

Copy MachinesSeveral teachers have expressed concerns to Mitchell about the continuous problems with copy machines.

“Every time you’re dealing with technology, there’s going to be issues,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell said the problems can be attributed to operating error or the volume of papers being copied.

“It usually has more to do with a jam and teachers don’t know how to fix it,” Mitchell said.

She said potential problems could be avoided if Betty Motley, production staff, was the only person who operated the copy machines.

“At Lafayette, I know there is only one person who does the copying and none of the teachers do the copies,” Mitchell said. “I think that would work well because that person will really know the equipment.”

Motley said, on average, there are problems with the machines about two times per week. She attributed many problems to the volume of copies that are made. As of Tuesday, Oct. 13, 26,329,135 copies had been made on both machines combined since they were purchased.

Eva Johnston, social studies teacher, said it is difficult for teachers to make last minute adjustments to handouts because there is no guarantee their copies will be made in time.

Sam Pierzynski, sophomore, said his teacher couldn’t get notes copied on time so the class had to change plans.

“We had to write the notes by hand because they couldn’t be printed out on time,” Pierzynski, sophomore, said.

Mitchell encourages teachers to have their copies done a few days before they need them.

She said some teachers have suggested the school purchase new copy machines, but due to budgeting, she said it is not a likely solution.

Principal Greg Mathison said the district contracts the copy machines from a company and when there are problems, they must call people in to fix them. They have contacted the company, Ikon, several times and a lot of the problems are out of the hands of the hands of the administration.

“I know it’s causing a huge frustration for teachers and staff members,” Mathison said. “It’s really trying some people’s patience, which is understandable.”

Writing CenterAs a way to save money on computer functioning costs, four monitors

are connected to one computer in the Writing Center using the Extenda system. If one computer is turned off or has a problem, all four of them will stop working also.

“That’s been an issue with a central monitor,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes it happens when students restart the computers, but I know sometimes the monitor restarts itself.”

Sara Jordan, senior, said students and teachers become frustrated when computers don’t work properly.

Tom Pummill, language arts teacher, said his purpose in the writing center is to assist students but when he is having to talk on the phone with the Help Desk, he is taking away from the learning of students.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” Pummill said.

It is important for students to realize they can’t restart or turn off their computers when they are finished, Mathison said.

“Students need to save more often and the person on that computer needs to know they can’t restart the computer,” Mathison said. “Once students get used to it, those issues will eventually resolve themselves.”

Docking Stations

Last year, classrooms were equipped with new laptop docking stations. However, since teachers have different laptops, the docking stations did not work for all teachers. New docking stations were purchased this year but teachers still experience difficulties.

“It’s erratic and uncertain whether it will work,” Johnston said.

Johnston said she has had to forgo showing videos in her class because it takes too long to start up the computer and pull up a video.

“The problem is it eats into class time,” Johnston said.

Mitchell encouraged teachers to always have a backup plan in case technical difficulties disrupt the lesson plan.

“With technology, you always have to have a plan B since it’s not always reliable,” Mitchell said.