The USDA Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program is providing the North Dakota Educational Technology Council with $392,277, which will be filtered into schools such as Hazen, New Salem, Steele-Dawson and Garrison. Most of the money will go toward newer televisions, microphones, cameras and replacing the transmission equipment.
Jasper Schneider, the USDA Rural Development state director, said higher quality equipment improves the connection between teachers and students and enhances their learning.
"Newer cameras, bigger televisions help provide more of a traditional classroom experience, even if it's virtual," he said. "At the end of the day, these are still high school kids and teachers. Teachers want to maintain control of the classroom and develop relationships with students, even if they're far away."
Steve Brannan, the superintendent of Garrison Public Schools, said 40 Garrison high school students take classes through interactive television this year. The school has two video labs that are used 12 periods a day.
Brannan stressed that distance learning allows students to take such classes as foreign language, art, psychology, sociology, and advanced courses in composition, speech, science and math that they wouldn't be able to take otherwise.
"In order to be eligible for state scholarships, you need foreign language," he said, noting that 11 of 12 students taking dual credit courses this year are doing so through ITV courses.
"ITV is just primary for our students to compete," he said.
Brannan said the school plans to upgrade one of its two video labs with the grant money. Each lab has eight large television sets weighing more than 200 pounds each, he said. The school will be switching to flat screen, high-definition televisions and improving its sound system. Brannan said he expects the school to be able to cut back on the number of TV sets because the HD TVs will be able to show split screens.
More than 3,100 North Dakota students participate in video classes each day. As many as seven classrooms may be participating at once, although the number of classrooms usually is limited to four.
Bill Strasser, director of the Great Western Network, which coordinates ITV classes for schools in western North Dakota, said those classes have grown over the last 20 years. The Great Western Network started with about eight schools using ITV and grew to 46 schools. Twenty-eight of the 46 schools in the network will be getting upgrades through the grant.
"Almost every school has one if not two (ITV) classrooms," Strasser said. "(The grant money) is carrying us through to the future to maintain what we have and improve what we have with the hi-def factor in there."
Schneider said some rural schools have higher quality equipment than others and the upgrades will be different depending on the school.
"It's all across the board. Some schools are further along than others," he said.
ND ETC, a state board that develops technology systems and coordinates their use for elementary and secondary schools, will implement the technology upgrades over the next couple of years.
"But we're hopeful ... schools like Garrison that know what they need can upgrade in the next six months or so," Schneider said.
"At the end of the day, the real winners are the students because we want to try to give them as rich of a curriculum as possible and by embracing technology we're able to do that," he said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Mara Van Ells
Quelle/Source: The Bismarck Tribune, 23.12.2011
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