Technology / Screen Time at Acton

One of the most common topics that comes up in my discussion with Parents is regarding screen time at Acton Columbus.

Every day at Acton begins with a “Morning Launch”, where learners get together for a Socratic discussion and get the day started. After the morning launch, the eagles will often spend the morning on core skills individually. There will be use of technology - primarily when it comes to Math. At Acton, we use adaptive education software which tracks the performance of each student and gives them gradually more challenging questions to test their knowledge. This allows, for example, one student to focus on fractions while another can focus on decimals depending on where they are in their personal learning journey.

However, core skill time also includes reading, writing, and other non-computer time. 

The afternoon portion of the day is spent primarily on project activities where students are collaborating with each other to complete activities. This is primarily done without the use of computers.

It is also important that I note here that I am a huge believer in outdoor time. In addition to the health benefits, there’s a lot that happens in an open field - eagles collaborate, they creatively create games, they build unity, they communicate with each other, etc.

The school location is right across Coffman park because of this reason. Within walking distance from the school is an open field, a playground, an outdoor amphitheater, a skatepark, an outdoor ice rink, the Dublin rec center, among other amenities. 

At Acton, we believe in the power of technology to help personalize learning for each student. At the same time, Eagles at Acton Columbus will spend a lot of time outdoors and engaged in collaborative, non-screen time activities.