By Diane Kim, Cypress High School, Grade 11
April 25, 2011
Technology has changed the face of speech and debate competitions across the nation as tournaments now use cell phones and laptops to their advantage. On April 15, 2011 at the California High School Speech Tournament held at the San Diego State University, speech and debaters registered to receive text messages for constant updates about their next rounds.
“Before, we had to check to see if there was an updated paper on a wall, but the text message updates made it so that we don’t have to wait,” said Beverly Dovan, a junior at La Costa Canyon High School.
These updates were also available online on the state tournament website for competitors with internet access. Justin Park, a sophomore at Cypress High School, found disadvantages to the text messages. “The tournament assumes that everyone registered for the system and slacked off on posting the paper copies for those who didn’t.”
Also, instead of making several copies of each ballot and distributing them to the coaches of every school, the tournament scanned the ballots and posted them online for easy access and viewing. “I like how I could look at the ballots right away. At other tournaments, I would have to wait until I saw my coach again,” said Arrol Fulton, a junior at La Costa Canyon High. These new changes have made the often chaotic debate tournaments much easier and convenient for both the hosts and competitors.
In the competition of policy debate, debaters were also allowed two laptops per team. The laptops are used to store virtual documents of evidence needed to support certain arguments and claims. Kyle Joseph, a senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, acknowledged both the pros and cons of this allowance. “Technology in debate in the form of paperless means that teams no longer carry tubs, but there are negatives as well because that also allows teams to cheat by using more prep time claiming that their computer is malfunctioning.” Judges are unsure of what rules to follow and pass by as new technology also creates obstacles in ensuring fairness in debates.
Nonetheless, it is clear to see that speech and debate tournaments are adapting to the rise of new technology in society. As seen evident in the recent state speech and debate championship, new modes of communication through cell phones and the internet is changing the face of how speech and debate tournaments will work in the future.
