Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994                   TAG: 9402050005
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                 LENGTH: Medium

COMPUTER TIE OF 2 SCHOOLS COULD LEAD TO MORE LINKUPS

But it could pave the way to linking high schools in many Southwest Virginia counties with high-tech software available at the Governor's School.

The project was the brainchild of Margaret ``Pat'' Duncan, the Governor's School director, and the first step had already been taken by the time the school's board had its monthly meeting this weekFeb2.

Board members were treated to a demonstration by Wade Wirt of ComputerLand, Tim Evans of IBM, Shawn Brenneman of the Governor's School faculty and Jim Sandidge with Pulaski County's school system.

Among the Governor's School programs now available to the high school are CD-ROMs, costing about $1,400 each, with information on thousands of topics. Brenneman demonstrated by asking for data on ``dogs,'' and a screen full of titles popped up immediately.

Each CD-ROM, she said, has ``lots and lots of information on one little disk'' and can save students hours of library time. The same disk can be accessed by students on different computers at the same time.

Science Fair entry forms are now in the Governor's School database so students can fill them out at their computers ``instead of standing in line at the typewriter like they used to do,'' she said.

Wirt explained that this initial link with Pulaski County High School used the old copper cable just because it was there. Future links with this school and others will use telephone lines and, in the future, fiber-optic cable. But this shows it can be done, he said.

Telephone lines allow access by personal computers even from outside the school, he said. ``Any PC with a modem could make the connection.''

Pulaski County Superintendent Bill Asbury said the project, when spread to other schools, can make available the kind of technology lacking in Southwest Virginia schools and lessening educational disparities between them and the state's more affluent urban schools.

``This distance learning capability is going to open that door. It won't solve all the problems, but it will solve a lot,'' he said.

He noted that the high test scores by students at the Southwest Virginia Governor's School, compared with others across the nation, showed that students in this region have as much learning potential as their counterparts in urban areas. He noted that the computer link can work both ways, with high schools allowing the Governor's School access to their software and both saving money by not having to duplicate it.

``This is the first phase,'' Duncan said. ``I think it's exciting.''

The Governor's School has been holding in-service training for teachers from the New River Valley and beyond, and would provide training for use of the software when it is extended to their schools, she said.

A junior commuting to the Governor's School for a half-day had asked Duncan if the initiative meant that, if he had not finished his work before returning to his home school, he could use the link to complete it there.

Duncan said he could and anticipated that the link would be in place in time for him to take advantage of it before he graduates.

The main expense to localities will be the telephone lines.