By David Zheng
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As our adviser Jim Streisel always reminds us, the times are changing in the field of journalism. Readers are relying more and more on accessing their information from online sources instead of from print publications, rendering newspapers such as our very own HiLite more and more obsolete. And sure enough, there is statistical evidence to validate Streisel’s claim.

According to a digital marketing video made by The Economist magazine, newspaper circulation is down 7 million over the last 25 years, while in contrast, according to that same video, in the last five years, unique readers of online newspapers are up 30 million.

We need to accommodate these staggering changes, as it is obvious that technology is becoming the dominant medium for information in our day and age. One way to adapt to these changes would be for this school to embrace students’ use of technology.

Not only would accessing classroom material online be efficient, but it would also help bridge the gap between the current method of accessing information through text sources and through the dominating medium of technology. And there are obviously many advantages to such a plan. Online textbooks would eliminate book fees and the burden of having to carry around textbooks for every class. Additionally, online textbooks could be updated more frequently, rendering them more current and, therefore, more useful.

Online textbooks are already made available for students as a reference in the foreign language classes. This shows that we are already on our way in adapting to the growing reliance on technology for information. If we are already using the Internet to perform tasks such as submitting essays, checking grades and accessing assignments, then what’s stopping us from completely changing our approach to learning?

Another change could be to encourage the use of laptop computers. Schools in the Indianapolis area such as Guerin and University already mandate laptop usage in class. And these schools might be on to something. Using laptops in school is a great way to facilitate communication between teachers and students during school hours when it sometimes not always possible. Also, a majority of college students have laptops, and regular laptop usage in class would make the transition from high school to college much smoother.

Finally, providing more ways to communicate online is a must. Some teachers here have made it an option for students to access sites such as Moodle to submit assignments and access course materials, which also yields many advantages. It’s a lot less of a hassle for the teacher, as he/she would not have to carry around giant stacks of papers that need to be graded, and it’s a lot less of a hassle for the student, who now would not need to worry about losing any assignments because they would already have been submitted online. Additionally, the changes help the environment, because there is not as much paper waste due to the fact essays would no longer need to be printed out. With all these possible ways to adapt to the growing medium of technology, there seem to only be advantages. If there’s nowhere to go but up, there’s no reason why Carmel shouldn’t go along with technology’s increasing influence as a medium for information.