The restrictions on our school Wi-Fi have affected both students and teachers as well as life in and out of the classroom. Whether it is losing valuable class time, gaining more intellectual engagement, or facing challenges with communication, these restrictions have made a significant impact on the Mount community.

Impact on Students 

Students at the Mount have felt a variety of ways about this new change. Without a doubt, it has been drawing more students out of their classrooms in order to seek help for their Wi-Fi complications.

Therefore missing time in class that is important to them and their education. Getting help isn’t usually a problem, but, because such large groups are having trouble at the same time, the line for Network Administrator, Kevin Schanley‘s (commonly known as Kevin among students), office is often out the door.

“When I go to see Kevin for problems it takes out of my time for education,” Hayden Smith ‘27.

Many students at the Mount have noticed the downsides to our Wi-Fi restrictions but, on the other hand, it has benefitted a large portion of us as- well.

“I think it’s positive. That way I can focus on my learning more,” Julia Paccapanicia ‘27, said.

Seeing as we no longer have access to social media and certain websites, students have been able to engage in their class work and devote their attention entirely to their teacher without distraction.

Impact on Teachers 

Teachers have also been affected by these changes in the classroom. As previously stated, there has been much less distraction and more learning opportunities for students.

Though it hasn’t directly affected most of them, they have noticed a shift in attention from their students.

“I think that when the notifications are coming through it’s really easy to get distracted. Having notifications not popping through the ipads is more beneficial to learning in the classroom,” Mr. Nayden said.

He has directly seen positive changes in his day to day life with the restrictions on our Wi-Fi.

“As far as I know, we want to keep school focused on school and limit all the noise and distractions that you can get yourselves too focused on sometimes,” Schanely said.

Schanely doesn’t choose which apps and websites to restrict, administration does, but he does agree with their choices. He also said that has not gotten any feedback regarding issues from students or teachers.

Ultimately, Wi-Fi changes and restricts have impacted our community a large amount. Whether it has been positive or negative, there has certainly been shifts in and out of the classroom, affecting both students and teachers and people of all grade levels.