Look around you. Chances are you will be overwhelmed by the different smart phones, mp3 players, and computers that are the result enormous advancements in technology throughout the past decade.

“What was considered advanced 10 years ago is piddly stuff today,” said Technology Specialist Jerry Mason. “There has to be somebody managing it.”

Mason’s job is to keep the school’s plethora of technology up and running. In the previous decade, schools could generally function without a Technology Specialist but with the Smart Boards and laptops that students use every day, a tech specialist is vital to a modern school running smoothly.

“We encourage teachers to use new technologies, but we don’t want to force it down their throats,” said School Based Technology Specialist Ann Wong.

Students themselves are also well-versed in high technology. Academy Classes, such as the Oracle (a computer technology corporation) class offered at Edison High School, teach students advanced computer programs to prepare them for all the technology they will face once they leave high school.

“We learn about data based solutions and how to program data bases,” said senior David Magnotti. Magnotti is also a student of Mason’s, who runs errands around the school, taking care of the ever-present threat of technology failure.

Perhaps that most amazing technological advancement in the past decade is the Apple iPad and other tablet devices. These small, flat, handheld, gadgets perform all the tasks of a computer, an mp3 player, and in some cases a cell phone.

“I use it to keep in constant contact with friends and family,” said junior Nick Shidlovsky, a proud owner of an iPad. “Technology has just gotten more and more advanced every year.”

One example of the world embracing the technology we have at our disposal today is the possibility of online textbooks. Lake Braddock Secondary School is considering a program that would eliminate hardcover, paper textbooks and replace them with downloadable versions for devices like a Nook, Kindle and the aforementioned iPad. Some courses already have textbooks available online but if they were to be incorporated into handheld devices it would be a whole new ball game.

“It would be helpful having them around all the time, and it would be great being able to update the information all the time,” said English teacher Katie Norton, who heard about the program from a teacher at Lake Braddock “But everyone has different learning styles and so some students might not like it.”

There will, however, always be doubters of the technological advancements of today.

“People rely on electronics for things they used to do themselves,” said junior Isabelle White.  “Our generation is too dependent on technology and it’s only going to get worse.

America has always been a country that refuses to stand still. In a period of under 100 years we went from the Wright brothers’ first sustained flight to landing on the moon. The impact of technology is felt all over the world and the advancements have no signs of stopping.

“Enjoy your new electronics now because they’re bound to be obsolete before you get your first scratch on them,” said Shidlovsky.