Over the summer, interactive panels and Chromebook carts were given to the school as a part of the Humble Technology Bond to give students greater access to new technology. Schools across Humble ISD have been receiving new technology since 2022.
“I think they will really have an impact on learning in the classroom,” principal Wes Solomon said.
Included in the bond were 32 Chromebook carts. This allows every classroom to have a cart. Most carts have 30 Chromebooks, which is usually enough for every student in the class.
In previous years, teachers had to request a Chromebook cart weeks in advance because of the limited number on campus.
“It’s definitely been nice, allows me to get my work done,” senior Tristan Samson said.
The interactive panels were installed in every classroom to replace the projectors previously used. These projectors required consistent maintenance with the bulbs needing to be replaced often, leading some classrooms to be without a projector for weeks at a time. With the Newline interactive panels, fewer maintenance issues should arise.
The panel can serve as a whiteboard, a tablet or a desktop. Teachers can also plug their laptops into the screen and project off of there when needed.
With all of the panels’ capabilities, some teachers have found unique ways to utilize the panels inside and outside of class.
“My daughter loves it,” Economics teacher Luke Gorney said. “I can display a template for a coloring picture and she can color it in like a coloring book up on the screen.”
The addition of the interactive panels has also made teaching easier for Gorney in many aspects. In his economics classes, Gorney can draw graphs on the panels and then interact with them to give students a more visual representation of what’s going on in the graphs.
Compared to the projectors, Gorney is able to show students more in-depth looks at economy with the use of the interactive panels.
“I tend to be a little bit reluctant to accept change, but since I’ve played with it and started messing around with it, I actually really like it,” Gorney said.
* Fallon Head contributed to this story.
