The internet at STA was “up and down for about half of the day” Sept. 16, an issue completely unrelated to the transition from Smoothwall to Securly, according to Tech support Jeff Zimmerman. During advisory time Sept. 16, all students were asked to shut down their computers in order to update Windows in preparation for the Securly rollout. During Activity 1 and 2 Sept. 17, all students transitioned from Smoothwall to Securly.

“The update can take up to 30 minutes, but generally it can be as fast as five,” Zimmerman said.

By the end of activity, all students should have had Securly. Smoothwall was turned off at 3 p.m. Sept. 17, and students who had not gotten Securly did not have access to the internet. The transition in programs will hopefully eliminate the amount of times students have to restart their computers.

As for the possibility of tablets for STA in the future, “whether we go to them is still up for debate,” Zimmerman said. The benefits of using tablets include the fact that “they are hybrid, so you can use them as a tablet or as a laptop,” Zimmerman said.

They have detachable keyboards and they have digitizers so you can take handwritten notes on them, according to Zimmerman.

Teachers Jo Weller, Terry Conner and Renee Blake are all using the tablets this year in addition to a handful of students who are testing them. According to Zimmerman, the overall response overall from those using the tablets has been “overwhelmingly positive.”