Wi-Fi, the snappy acronym for wireless fidelity Internet access, was one of the topics for debate at a recent school board meeting.
The school board discussed the issue of making wireless Internet accessible to students and their gadgets, such as laptops, during school time.
Emissions from the wireless signal were deliberated over as a possible health concern, as studies are currently looked at for any short-term or long-term effects.
What had several board members concerned about is how the access to various technologies would act as a distraction to students within the classroom.
Overall, the members agreed that this topic would be raised in the next meeting, but the mutual consensus was that “students would be welcome to use devices outside class time.”
Boundary District Teachers Association President Norm Sabourin mentioned, “Right now the studies are saying it’s safe, but my concern is, in 10 or 15 years, will we find out the it wasn’t? Asbestos was considered safe 50 years ago.”
“It’s still controversial with teachers and how they will manage the usage of the devices,” said Sabourin.
“Would students be allowed in-class access to these devices? Or would teachers be able to regulate how it’s used?”
Technology can be a valuable tool, stated Sabourin.
“I would think teachers in general would be open to the idea, but they need to have control in the classroom and it should work for them,” he said.
Superintendent Michael Strukoff said that it would be up to individual schools and teachers to decide whether they would like to have cell phones or other devices used within the classroom.
A decision by the school board will be discussed at the next meeting on whether students will be allowed to bring their own devices to school for use.