Who we are and what we are about

ATiT is an audio-visual and information technologies company based in Belgium. Set up by Mathy Vanbuel and Sally Reynolds in January 1999, ATiT specialises in the educational, cultural and training sectors and provides audio-visual production, project management, training and consultancy services to clients all over the world.

Mathy and Sally set up ATiT as a way to provide a bridge between technology and learning. Coming as they both did from the field of audiovisual communications and educational media, they felt there was a need for people like them who knew and understand the educational process and who also knew how to apply technology-based solutions to help individuals and organisations make the most of digital tools and services. Since they started in 1999, ATiT has carried out more than 500 projects providing help to educators and trainers at all levels from compulsory level education to continuing professional development in different sectors including medicine. 

Approach

ATiT is not in business to sell a specific technology. Our approach is to check out all available tools, services and networks in order to find the one that best matches the client's needs and budget. Where a tool or service is not available and a need clearly exists, then we carry out the necessary development work to create bespoke solutions.

Training is fundamental to what we do. We firmly believe that it is not enough to simply make available innovative tools and services, you have to also make sure that they are accepted into the daily practice and work-flow of the user community. Thats why we put such a lot of emphasis on user testing, user support and user training.

Much of what we do is connected to video - not only because that where the company has its roots - but also because we take the view that video is an incredibly powerful tool in education and training. A tool with huge potential that is becoming increasingly important in our video-driven daily life.

Classification

ATiT can be classified as a private research, consultancy and production company in the ICT sector specialising in technology enhanced learning solutions and integrating appropriate technologies. Although much of our work has been to support projects in Europe, we also have experience in other parts of the world and have carried out several projects in the developing world.

Philosophy

ATiT's philosophy reflects our belief that technology enhanced education is only successful if and when all parts of the system cycle are covered:

• Hardware and software
• Network and access
• End user training and continuous support
• Content

Media & Learning Association

ATiT hosts the secretariat of the Media & Learning Association, an international not-for-profit registered in Belgium and in operation since 2012. The main objective of the association is to promote and stimulate the use of media as a way to enhance innovation and creativity in teaching and learning across all levels of education in Europe. More than 30 organisations from 17 European countries are now members of this association, find out more from the association website. Sally Reynolds is the Chief Operating Officer of the Association and Mathy Vanbuel serves on its Board of Management as Secretary.

The origins of this association lie in a series of cross-border initiatives and projects many of which were initiated and/or led by ATiT related to promoting the use of media in teaching and learning that took place between 2002 and 2012. These include the MEDEA:EU, MEDEA2020, MEDEAnet, SAVIE, MTS, BIC and RECall projects partially funded under various European Commission programmes. The annual MEDEA Awards also emerged from the collaboration that was generated through this project work and is now established as an annual competition attracting between 200 and 300 entrants each year who compete to win one of the two main awards; the MEDEA Award for professionally-produced educational media and the MEDEA Award for user-generated educational media.

ATiT has been responsible for the organisation of the annual Media and Learning Conference since 2010 which is organised in cooperation with the Flemish Ministry of Education. This conference is the leading event for policy-makers, stakeholders, teacher training providers, researchers and practitioners interested in the value and impact media can have on teaching and learning. It regularly attracts between 250 and 300 participants and includes a mix of talks, showcases and networking opportunities designed to help participants learn, share and reflect on all aspects of media use in education and training.

The secretariat operated by ATiT takes care of the day-to-day running of the association.

Equal Opportunities Policy Statement

As a company we are committed to the principles of equal opportunities, diversity and eliminating discrimination in every aspect of our work. We strive to ensure that no individual or group is treated more or less favourably than others on grounds of ethnic origin, nationality, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.

It is our express intention to comply completely with all legislation, both national and European, related to equal opportunities both to protect the company and to ensure that the culture, philosophy and processes within the company are free from bias. ATiT implements its Equality Opportunities Policy in accordance with current legislation and codes of practice including:

• EU Anti-Discrimination Directives (which currently include the Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003, Religion and Belief Regulation 2003 and Sexual Orientation Regulation 2003)
• Equal Opportunities Policy of the Flemish government