Technology at St. Andrew's

At St. Andrew's, we believe that technology is an important part of the communication, research, analysis and presentation of the academic subject matter taught in our classrooms.

To that end, we strive to provide students and faculty with the best technology possible to meet their academic needs. We do not attempt to develop our technological resources for their own sake, but rather we chart carefully the needs of our rigorous academic programs and develop our technology program to respond to those needs with the best technological resources available.

Technology is used in classrooms across all disciplines and in the co-curriculum of the School. Here are just a few examples:

  • Our English program uses on-line conferences to extend in-class conversations and share their written analyses of works of literature.
  • Students in film studies use advanced film editing programs to create soundtracks, edit film and complete their productions.
  • In physics classes, students use computers to model experiments and conduct laboratory analysis in database programs.
  • The Andrean (our literary magazine), The Cardinal (St. Andrew's monthly student newspaper), and the Griffin (the yearbook) are produced in a state-of-the-art graphic design lab in the O'Brien Arts Center.
  • When learning music composition, students compose and edit on digital workstations with synthesizers and virtual orchestras.
  • The modern languages department makes use of class Web sites to post listening assignments and other digital resources.
  • Student groups use e-mail conferences to share information, organize meetings and make announcements.
  • American history students create presentations on historical events in PowerPoint, using the software to illustrate their analyses of primary sources, present film clips of historical events and provide recordings of speeches and music.
  • Digital movie announcements, recorded and edited using the School's technological resources, are an entertaining feature of the weekly School Meeting.

The following is a brief description of resources available on the campus:

Library:
The Irene duPont Library at St. Andrew's is equipped to allow St. Andrew's students and faculty to use a broad range of research databases and resources. Over 25 research databases are available in the library computer labs and our staff of librarians are available to assist students and faculty make the most of the library's technological resources.

E-mail:
St Andrew's utilizes FirstClass (from Open Text) e-mail system for all e-mail transactions. Utilizing features like private classroom conferences, teachers can communicate directly with students in one particular class or subject. E-mail communication between students and faculty is frequent and has shown to be highly productive.

Faculty Computers:
Each member of the St Andrew's School faculty and administration has his or her own computer for use at all times. Most computers are portable laptop computers and enable faculty members to communicate with their students and work on their courses in their offices and at home, and to take advantage of digital classroom presentations and special software to use in the classrooms and laboratories.

Student Computers:
More then 80 percent of the students at St. Andrew's own and use their own computers; those students without personal machines find ample facilities in classrooms, computer laboratories, and dorm common rooms for writing papers, doing research, working on homework, and sending e-mail. While over 90 percent of the computers on campus are Macintosh-based, those with Microsoft Windows have full access to networks, printers and other facilities.

Software:
Students and teachers have access to a broad spectrum of computing software. The software available on every public computer includes: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), FirstClass (e-mail), AppleWorks, Safari (Web browser), Internet Explorer, Geometer's Sketch Pad, and other academic software. Students and teachers communicate before and after classes by e-mail for assignment updates, schedule changes, and special meetings.

SASNet:
SASNet is the name given to the wired and wireless computer, telephone, and multimedia network woven across the St. Andrew's campus. Available publicly to the entire School in our computer laboratories are over 65 G4 Macintosh computers. In addition, there are numerous wireless zones throughout campus. Each computer on this network enables members of the community to access personal files, e-mail, shared classroom files, class software, and the World Wide Web via a high-speed (2xT-1) data connection.

Acceptable Use Policy:
Each member of the school community signs, upon his arrival, a pledge to use the school computing systems for positive and productive purposes.