by Sam Pierce
In order to make it easier to access information and resources (including fellow students and families), much of our effort has been spent on ATDP’s online presence. Along with our usual course catalog, we’re looking forward to rolling out a new website this winter. It’ll look much like this eNewsletter and will help us all to realize more of the program’s primary goals – to foster a productive and caring community of students, educators, and researchers, and lovers of learning.
Last summer, I established a new version of our online academic component: the ATDP Commons. As is the tradition with our virtual class pages, it allowed students to communicate and coordinate with their peers and instructors during the program in a space that was all about the concepts and culture of their ATDP course. Going forward, we’d like to integrate that social technology into our primary website, allowing instructors, parents, and others a forum to share stories, tips, and ideas related to the program year-round. When you log in, you’ll be able to submit an application online, check its status, and make tuition payments.
With this new setup, we’ll continue to pursue lively and informative updates via our newsletter – look forward to hearing from us a bit more often, but please also consider contributing. In this issue, we’ve got some wonderful anecdotes and advice from last summer’s instructors. In the future, we’d love to feature student accomplishments, new developments in education, and program announcements. Please also let us know what you’d like to see by commenting below!
Sam Pierce is the program’s webmaster and technical researcher. He is also a Secondary Division instructor during the summer, teaching ATDP’s web design course.