Technology

Technology in the Lowndes County Schools

Technology Mission

Our mission is to facilitate rigorous, student-centered instruction that will develop critical thinking skills, to enable students to effectively seek, evaluate, integrate, and communicate information and ideas, to provide the tools for collaborative and individual solving of authentic problems, and to promote a culture of innovation and creativity so that all students are prepared to be active citizens and successful in college and careers.

Technology Vision

  • Teachers, administrators, students, and parent representatives contributed to this statement of the shared vision for the use of technology in the Lowndes County Schools.

  • Technology will be an integral part of the learning environment as students acquire knowledge and skills and as they develop projects and create products to demonstrate mastery of the CCGPS and to meet the International Society for Technology in Education Standards for Students.

  • Working collaboratively, curriculum specialists, instructional technology specialists, academic coaches, teachers, administrators, and media specialists will maintain a focus on higher order thinking skills and on using technology to promote student-centered activities of analyzing, evaluating, and creating.


  • Through comprehensive professional development, teachers will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to integrate technology into a challenging curriculum which addresses students’ specific needs, learning styles, and developmental levels. Professional development will be relevant, based upon identified needs, responsive to teacher and administration requests, and will develop those capabilities identified in the International Society for Technology in Education Standards for Teachers.


  • Administrators will expect that appropriate technology tools be used to facilitate rigorous and challenging instruction, and they will demonstrate proficiency in using technology to promote instruction in their schools and for the efficient operation of their organization. Professional development for administrators will develop the capabilities identified in the International Society for Technology in Education Standards for Administrators.


  • Integrated learning systems will be used with monitoring and continuous review in reading, math, language arts, and science to develop student skills and to identify areas for improvement and remediation.

  • We will emphasize the development of information fluency in students across all grade levels, providing them with opportunities to locate, analyze, evaluate, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.


  • The Technology Department will work collaboratively with teacher representatives from elementary, middle, and high school and with the departments of Teaching and Learning, Title programs, Career Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE), and Special Education to identify needs and to leverage resources to provide hardware and software to facilitate student learning with equitable access by all students.

Acceptable Use Agreements

Technology is an integral part of the learning experiences in the Lowndes County Schools. Students use these resources to acquire knowledge, to seek, evaluate, and create information, and to communicate and collaborate with others. The use of the system’s computers and network is a privilege that requires each student to act responsibly. To guide this use of technology, the Lowndes County Board of Education has approved a Student Acceptable Use Agreement which describes the expectations for how technology should be used by students in the Lowndes County Schools.

Likewise, we expect employees to model ethical and professional conduct as they use technology to enhance instruction and to facilitate their daily tasks. To provide direction to employees on how technology is to be used, the Board of Education has also adopted an Employee Acceptable Use Agreement. It is the responsibility of each employee to understand and to adhere to this policy.

Google Apps in Lowndes County Schools

The Lowndes County Schools system has adopted Google Apps for Education to provide free online communication and productivity tools for students and teachers. Google Apps for Education (GAFE) accounts are provided for all students in grades K-12. With GAFE accounts, students can create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations anywhere they have an internet connection. Students will be able to share to their teachers and collaborate with their peers, working together on class assignments at school or at home. GAFE is one tool we hope to use to develop in all our students the key 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.

Student email accounts will be made available for all students.  Elementary students will be able to email their teachers, middle school students can email anyone within the district and high school students will have unrestricted email access.  

We are providing this notification to the parents of children 12 and younger so that the system can be compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) The only information the school system transfers to Google in the creation of students accounts is the child’s first name, last name, and expected graduation year.

No personal information is collected for commercial purposes in our GAFE domain, and Google Apps for Education services do not collect or use student data for advertising purposes or create advertising profiles. Google provides an overview of their commitment to student security and privacy at this site.

Access to and use of GAFE is a privilege. The district maintains the right to withdraw access when there is reason to believe violations of law or district policies have occurred. The alleged violation will be referred to the principal for further investigation. Pending review, a user account may be terminated as part of such action.

Parents who object to their child using Google Apps for Education must contact their child’s principal in writing within ten (10) days of the student’s enrollment.