Big Bucks? Big TVs? Big Mistakes?

Written By Tia Harbaugh and Riley Mitlehner, Edited by Wafiya Hasan

This past month, teachers found themselves waving a bittersweet goodbye to a classic classroom fixture: the projector. The appliances, both beloved and despised, were whisked away by administration to make space for a shining sea of brand spankin’ new flat screens. Coming in at a whopping 75 inches across, the Samsung TVs constitute a substantial investment for the school. But with so many teachers seeming skeptical or even outright against the swap, many students have been left with questions.

One such question may be: okay so, whatever … but like, why are we doing this? Well, the school district received a bond in 2022 for modernization. (A bond being, basically, a loan that the school district asks the community to sponsor through an increase in taxes.) At Sunset, that goal covers “learning space enhancements” and a plan to “update courtyard landscaping.” These new TVs fall under the former category. This bond also covered the new sunset track that was installed over the summer of 2023, and renewed the iMacs in the library. Beyond that, there are many benefits to replacing the near ancient artifacts. On the bright side, you will no longer have to hear the feeble roar of the projector or wait for it to warm itself up enough to do its job. With TV’s in place, improved brightness and sharpness are a guarantee!

On the down side, they’re smaller and shinier (not great for classrooms with windows), and they’re not exactly the technology that most of our staff grew up with. Speaking of, here are some teacher opinions of the new TVs:

• “I think it’s too low.”
• “Projectors I was comfortable with; I’m not comfortable with this stuff … I’m not convinced they enhance the [student] experience.” (This teacher also expressed a feeling that, while the change may be difficult, only time will tell if the results will be worth it.)
• “I think it’s just something new for us to get used to, and a lot of teachers fear change and don’t want to get used to things. But it’s not a choice; it’s a district directive and we just have to get used to it.”
• “We can’t expect our students to learn new things that they are not comfortable with if we’re not willing to model that for them.” (Cool stuff.)
• “They’re ‘glaringly’ big.” (Soon after this comment, the teacher was kicked off the page they were navigating and sent to the home screen. Perhaps the TVs have a penchant for revenge.)

The principal was also asked about this transition, and cited improving conditions for substitute teachers as one significant reason for the change. The TVs provide an easily accessible, standardized system that the district hopes will help tamp down the technology confusion that often arises when subs are presented with uncommon equipment. She also mentioned that the most difficult part of the change was finding a good time to make the transition, as the end of the year can be quite a scramble for teachers and students alike.

Many classes have stumbled across a malfunction of some kind, but on the bright side, that gave everyone in class something to talk about. The security of these TV’s are a little questionable too, based on the few accounts of students connecting to them with apple devices and broadcasting Phineas and Ferb (or other … less benign forms of media). Ironically, in the exact opposite fashion, many students have faced trouble trying to broadcast work from their chromebooks as they flounder over how to connect to the new device. Partly because of the security flaws, it’s likely that teachers are generally more attached to the old relics than most students, who we know would trade out their Chromebook for a MacBook Air in an instant.

At the same time, the idea of sticking with the old isn’t something exclusive to the staff. Change can be hard, or even just vaguely uncomfortable. As we disconnect from the gasping death throes of the projectors and instead tune in to the new song of 5G waves cooking our brains, it’s important to keep flexibility in mind. Of course, there may be something to be said on the techno-dystopia of the fact that we are now not just swiveling between a phone and a chromebook but a phone, chromebook, and TV for eight straight hours a day, but at The Sunset Scroll we believe that we can appreciate new technology without sacrificing a critical view of it. And also, this is old news already and everyone is used to it! Amazing how that works.