The center will serve both DaVinci Academy and World Language Academy on Poplar Springs Road.
"The Learning Commons is the center hub of the Academies of Discovery," said Aaron Turpin, the Executive Director of Technology for the Hall County School System. "The entire facility was built to enable 21st century learning."
Turpin said the entire school complex, including the new Learning Commons, is wi-fi enabled. He said all chalkboards have been replaced with interactive, multi-touch whiteboards.
The learning environment, said Turpin, is a far cry from the environment he knew as a student.
"I was one of 30 in a class sitting in a straight row. We all learned the same thing at the same time, didn't matter if you were ahead or if you were behind," he said. "Asynchronous [learning] is when the education is individualized to the students. Really, we're at the first time in history where we have the technology tools to enable asynchronous learning for all of our students."
Lydia Ebbs, a 5th grader at World Language Academy, was one of a number of students at the dedication of the Learning Commons Monday evening. She summed up the excitement she and her friends were feeling about the new addition, since students had been operating without a library since the onset of the school year.
"We have big classroom TVs, they're touchscreen, they're really fun," she said. "But in here we have the huge TVs and it's all bigger and it's all better."
The Hall County Board of Education held its work session in the Learning Commons as part of the dedication of the new facility.
WLA student Lydia Ebbs shows off her project on one of the large screens at the Learning Commons
Student Sarah Willard was one of a number of students on hand to introduce visitors to the new technology at the Learning Commons
Principals Paula Stubbs, Dave Moody and Mitch Murphy welcome school board members and visitors to the new hi-tech facility
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/2/258780