Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Representatives from Virginia Tech, the Blacksburg Electronic Village and Montgomery County public schools boasted all this and more Wednesday as they announced the receipt of a one-year $99,000 planning grant supplied by the National Science Foundation. The grant will allow five of the county's schools to be directly linked to the Internet - the world's largest computer network, which connects more than a million computers and 25 million people each day. Researchers will monitor the program's success
"For too long, our students have been bound by four walls," said Superintendent of Schools Herman Bartlett. "Now we'll have the same information available in all of our schools - not just the schools in Blacksburg, but in the rural areas of Riner as well. Large or small, rural or urban, no longer will the physical size dictate what a school can do."
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, said this is the first project to link a rural community to the Internet.
"I can't think of a better use of our federal dollars," Boucher said.
Last year, representatives from Tech's College of Education and the Electronic Village collaborated on a project to bring more technology to public schools. Members of a technology team for the school system became involved, as did corporate sponsors nationwide. Bell Atlantic agreed to donate the cost of installing the high-speed lines to the schools that will supply direct access to the Internet - a donation worth more than $30,000.
Electronic Village Project Manager Andrew Cohill said the difference between this project and other on-line systems in public schools is that children will be operating directly on the Internet via the specialized high-speed lines. Most Internet users are hooked up via modems, which can be much slower, are easily blocked at busy hours and can crash unexpectedly.
"We want to show people what's possible when you have high-speed connections," he said. "They're 100 times faster than modems, and on a per classroom basis this will be much cheaper, because you'll have one connection coming into the schools and it goes to each computer."
Sea World-Busch Gardens Entertainment and Scholastic, a company that distributes educational materials worldwide, have become corporate sponsors of the project.
Busch Gardens is supplying an animal information database that will give teachers and students a comprehensive look at endangered species, marine science and some land mammals.
"We are the first folks - we think - to have a marine science program on the Internet," said Ed Dreistadt, a spokesman for Busch Entertainment.
The company also will provide access to communication with a Sea World character from the children's television show "Shamu TV."
In return, Virginia Tech researchers will track the popularity of the programs and feed that information back to the company.
Scholastic is offering an on-line library that includes reading, language arts, technology and natural science.
Five schools will receive six high-speed communications lines - Blacksburg High School, Blacksburg Middle School, Margaret Beeks Elementary, Auburn High and Middle School and Riner Elementary.
Bartlett said plans are under way to install high-speed lines in the county's remaining 14 schools, but funding for that has not been obtained.
Boucher, who is a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, said the state should take some of that financial responsibility.
"Perhaps if the state of Virginia began by paying the line charges [to install the high-speed lines], we can say we've gone a long way in improving technology in our public schools," he said. "In fact, I have reason to believe this issue will be brought up in the General Assembly in January."
by CNB