As the BSM community plans for next year, there are many expected technology changes. These adjustments are set to happen for students, teachers, and classrooms starting the 2018-19 school year.

Unlike last year, students will not have to turn in their laptops before summer and can fully enjoy having a laptop over the break. Updates to the current Mac operating system will still be downloaded over the process of the summer and be ready to be brought back to school in the fall.

Another change coming for students is having their passwords changed. This change comes after multiple schools in the Twin Cities have had instances of students accounts being hacked, with the hackers having access to gradebooks and more. These will happen before school ends, so students will be prepared with a new password for the next year. “[The new passwords will be] adjusted to increase the length and complexity of our school passwords to make sure everyone is secure,” help desk specialist, Mr. Bill Cheney, said.

Classrooms will see changes in their technology in the coming year as well. Promethean Board TV’s are being

bought. “We’re going to be buying another set for 1 or 2 more departments in the school, and continue eliminating the old projection systems and replacing them with these interactive screens,” Cheney said.

As well as adding these new boards, the lease on the current Canon Printers runs out this summer, so new printers will be added next year. These new printers will have a similar system, with the same style as the previous ones, but they would be a newer model. “You’ll still have a card to login with, but the new models would be improved from the ones before,” Cheney said.

Setting up for the new classroom construction will also be keeping the technology department busy over the summer. The new science classrooms being built will need to be installed with wifi, projectors and/or tv’s. Setting up these new changes will be very time-consuming for those involved.

With all these mostly smaller changes coming next year, bigger changes are in store for BSM in the next few years. This would include upgrading the current wireless system and looking at new devices to add for students and faculty. “In the next two years is when [we] would start looking at the next student teacher device,” technology manager Mr. Nicholas Gamache said.