Media and Technology at Athens Academy
Building 21 st Century Skills and Promoting Student-Centered Learning
Applying information and technology skills is an integral part of instruction at Athens Academy. Technology supports learning activities in the Media Centers and in the classrooms. Students are involved in instructional activities that require computer and media literacy.
Athens Academy began the Media Across the Curriculum Project in 1990, in partnership with the Bertelsmann Foundation, and in the ensuing years, has pursued the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning, utilizing evaluation to inform these developments.
The rationale for the infusion of laptop computers focuses on creating a “toolset” that can be effectively used in almost every curriculum area and can be used anywhere, anytime to facilitate writing, communication, visualization, resource use, and productivity. The laptop initiative at the Academy is predicated on the belief that computing has become an essential tool for thinking, problem-solving, and learning in the 21st century.
The longitudinal evaluation of the laptop program began with foundation, corporate, and trustee sponsors and was conducted by the University of Georgia’s Department of Instructional Technology within the College of Education. The evaluation continued into its latest phase, made possible by a matching grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation.
Link to the University of Georgia study’s website to access the full report:
The Promise of Ubiquitous Computing in Schools
A Report of a Four Year Evaluation of the Laptop Initiative at Athens Academy
2000-2003
by Janette R. Hill, Ph.D. and Thomas C. Reeves, Ph.D.,
Department of Instructional Technology, University of Georgia
Technology Acceptable Use Policy
Athens Academy teaches responsible use of technology. The Technology Acceptable Use Policy is distributed to each student annually.
Laptops
Students in grades 7-12 are issued laptop computers. Students use their laptops at home and at school to complete academic assignments. At school, students use laptops in the wireless network that covers all instructional buildings on campus.
Athens Academy selects equipment that is common throughout a grade level. Parents pay an annual fee during grades 7-12 for the laptop, case, software, extended warranty, insurance, campus network services, and service and support. At the end of three years of use, student laptops are replaced with new laptops in the sophomore year. As with all personal items, students are responsible for securing their laptops. Students are responsible for the cost of repair or replacement for laptop loss, damage, and/or theft.
Laptop Repair
The Operations and Support Center is located in the Bertelsmann Building. Students, teachers, and administrators can bring their laptops to the Help Desk, located in the Center, for service. Fees will be charged for repair items not covered by warranty or insurance.
Help Desk hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. Monday through Friday during the regular school year. Technical support during the summer is offered by appointment only. For more information about the Help Desk, visit the Technical Support homepage, email helpdesk@athensacademy.org, or call 706-433-2532.
Media Centers
Media Centers at Athens Academy are hubs for the encouragement of reading, information access, and learning technologies. The centers promote student collaboration while also providing quiet spaces for reading and individual study. Instruction on information access, web, video, audio, and print production is integrated into the curriculum and coordinated with the classroom teachers.
Libraries in each center, Lower School and Middle School/Upper School, provide a wide range of instructional materials with consideration given to level of difficulty, age appropriateness, diversity of appeal, and varying points of view.