Accompsett Students Go Digital

Students at Accompsett Middle School are the latest to benefit from new digital media labs being created at schools throughout the Smithtown School District.

Accompsett library media specialist Donna DeLuca researched and collaborated with other library media specialists in the district to enhance the use of technology at the school. According to AMS Principal Paul McNeil, the lab provides students with an avenue to create alternative projects, cultivating real-world skills and participating in authentic learning opportunities. Essentially, it allows them to become “creators rather than just consumers.”

AMS students are using the digital media lab to produce school news and updates, commercials for clubs, special videos and promos, including a library orientation video and even a piece that includes student testimonials that begin with, “I love the library because…” Students are creating much of their content using the iMovie video editing application. The lab is also equipped with a video camera and green screen.

On air personalities from both WALK 97.5 radio station and News 12 Long Island cable news station are scheduled to visit AMS in the near future to witness the students in action and offer their own expertise. McNeil cited the PBS special “Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century,” which documents how digital media in education can be used to “ignite students’ curiosity and ingenuity, help civic engagement, allow them to collaborate with peers worldwide and empower them to direct their own learning.”

Across the campus at Accompsett Elementary School, kindergarten students got their first in-school exposure to the digital world. They were introduced to the school’s computer lab, where they began practicing proper hand positioning and usage of the keyboard in preparation for more in-depth work that lies ahead, including the middle school digital media lab down the road.

Photo courtesy of the Smithtown Central School District: Accompsett Elementary School students recently visited the school’s computer lab where they learned computer keyboarding and basic skills, in preparation for the more advanced work that awaits them in the future.