Have you ever wondered what kind of technology your students are using when they are at school? Are they safe when they use technology at ASA? I can assure you the days of trudging to the shared computer lab and playing Oregon Trail on a shared, antiquated, desktop computer are (thankfully) well behind us. So much of the resources students and teachers use are now online, which brings both opportunities and challenges for privacy and safety concerns.
ASA Technology 2008 to Present Day
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| Lower Campus "new" Computer Lab circa 2012 |
ASA technology has seen quite a transformation over the past 16 years. In preparation of ASA opening its doors in August 2008, we gathered all the technology from the four previous schools (Blessed Sacrament, St. Alphonsus, St. Isidore and St. Jude) and used the best of what we had for computer labs, as well as faculty and staff computers. There was no WiFi at either campus in those days, and our internet speed was shockingly small by today’s standards. (It was in the single-digit MB per second range, whereas currently it’s in the triple digit GB per second range.) There was no ability to access most of the resources we used unless we were physically in the school buildings. Student access to technology was limited to their assigned time in the computer lab using the software installed on the desktop PCs.
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Students learning in the SmartLab in 2023
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With many thanks to the generosity of parents, ASA supporters at Eaglefest, and grants, ASA's technology has come a long way in the past 16 years, both with faculty and staff, as well as students. WiFi was installed at both campuses in 2012, we continued to increase internet speeds as more as more resources were available online. Windows desktop computers and their miles of network cabling gave way to wireless chromebooks - first in one shared cart in each campus's computer lab, and now each student in grades K-8 is assigned his or her own chromebook, and they are stored right in each classroom. Projectors on carts in each classroom have given way to interactive display boards at the Upper Campus and interactive projectors at the Lower Campus. There is also a
SmartLab at the Upper Campus, where students have access to a large variety of hands-on technology, including drones, robotics, 3D printing, video creation and more. All of these improvements have helped ASA prepare students for a future world with careers that do not yet exist.
Student Privacy and Online Safety
In the current online climate where there's a new data breach every week leaking our personal information, ASA takes student privacy and online safety very seriously. The resources students use today are online, and this has the potential to put students at risk. Those with nefarious intentions are very attracted to children's personal information, as it could be decades before anyone realizes their credit records have been ruined - not to mention a child's emotional and physical safety due to exposure online. At ASA, many measures are taken to ensure your child's privacy and safety. These include internet filtering, teachers monitoring student screens with GoGuardian, monitoring student accounts with Bark, creating a "walled garden" for students so they cannot interact with those outside the ASA domain, and vetting all online resources to ensure they comply with student privacy and safety laws. We also use the faith-based digital citizenship curriculum provided by Protect Young Eyes to educate students on safe and proper online habits.
At ASA we are also committed to making parents aware of the online tools we use with students. Are you aware that there is a page on the ASA website listing all the technology currently in use with or by your students? This page outlines all online resources used by your child, a link to their privacy policy, as well as how we use and monitor those resources.
As always, if you have any questions regarding ASA technology, please reach out to our Technology Coordinator, Karen Szczytko. You can reach her at kszczytko@asagr.org.
