The positioning Saunders referred to was the implementation of Internet2 in the district.

"Barrow County Schools has become the first K-12 school system in Georgia, and perhaps the first K-12 school system in the nation, to gain full access to Internet2," he said. "Internet2 provides the school system with an ultra-high-speed state, national, and international education network that previously has been the exclusive domain of universities, research labs, businesses and medical centers."

Due to the Internet2 access, classes have been able to take advantage of advanced learning options. Chad Mote’s classroom is one example.

Mote is an Apalachee High School science teacher who integrated Direct2Discovery in his honors chemistry class last fall. D2D connects Mote’s class with an instructor and lab from Georgia Tech, allowing the AHS students instruction from a college educator and virtual access to the college’s science equipment.

"It’s a supplement to what we’re trying to do in science," Mote said. "Science is horribly underfunded, and anything to supplement what we’re doing is really beneficial."

Barrow County is the only district in Georgia using D2D technology, and the efforts are being recognized. When Mote presented a D2D demonstration to the Board of Education last fall, he said that schools in Australia and Ireland are now using the technology because of demonstrations given by Barrow County Schools.

Mote’s students are excited about the program as well.

"We’re 16, 17 years old and to talk with professors who have already been published has been amazing," student Taylor Jacobs told Board of Education members. "This program has really motivated me to motivate myself."

"Being able to do this is really an honor, and I think it’d be great if everybody got to do this," said Belinda Lee, another student.

Other science classes are also using new technologies to improve learning.

Brandon Mitchell is a Winder-Barrow High School science teacher who puts science in motion for his students through the Electric Vehicle Education Program. Every year, students build up an electric go-cart (practicing mechanics) and then use the cart to test scientific principles.

"For physical science I teach the concepts of Newtonian physics such as speed, velocity, acceleration, work, power, and momentum," Mitchell said. "The car is a real-world problem allowing students to apply new knowledge to something real and fun. The concepts are more clearly understood, as they are immediately applicable to something the students experience every day — or wish to experience — driving. The fact that the go-cart is electric rather than gasoline-powered provides physical science students with the opportunity to experience electricity concepts such as power, voltage (potential difference), current, and resistance."

"In my environmental science class and environmental club we use the EV for learning about alternative energies for transportation and the applicability of EV’s for the average American," he continued. "We measure efficiency, range, drag, resistance, etc. to improve our EV. Last summer, we built a Solar Charging Trailer to drastically improve the range of our EV and to charge the EV without the use of dirty, coal-based electricity."

Like Mote’s students, Mitchell said the teens in his class enjoy learning with the electric vehicle.

"The phrase ‘when will I ever use this’ is never mentioned while we use the EV," he said.

Science teachers aren’t the only ones getting creative when it comes to technology in the classroom. Last fall, Curriculum Integration Specialist Caroline O’Bannon and English Language Learner Support Specialist Julie Elmore were applauded for their use of iPods in ELL classes. Across the district, SMART Boards are popping up in classrooms. Across Barrow County, technology is providing students a world-class education from the comfort of their classrooms.