THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 12, 1994 TAG: 9412100037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Gateway: Exploring the Computer World
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
WHAT DO YOU DO with a couple of teenagers who chew up and spit out all the advanced math classes their high school offers?
That's the dilemma Cox High School teachers and administrators faced last spring, when they realized no more math was available for whiz kids Olivia Peters, 17, and David Leichtman, 16.
One option was to send them off the Virginia Beach school grounds to an afternoon class at one of the local colleges. But David didn't drive, and both students were heavily involved in after-school activities at Cox.
So teachers, experts in the school system's office of technology and the kids' parents put their heads together and came up with a high-tech way for Olivia and David to take Calculus III from a Virginia Wesleyan College professor without setting foot off the Cox High campus.
About four times a week the two sit down in front of a computer in the school library and hook up with Wesleyan associate professor Thomas R. Fanney via modem, video camera and speakers. Fanney has the same equipment in Wesleyan's library.
Fanney and the students can see each others' images in small windows within their computer screens and can converse via speakers connected to the computers. Fanney has an electronic pen and scratch pad, on which he can scrawl notes that the students can read on their computer screen as he writes. The students use a mouse to write back - the electronic equivalent of writing answers on the chalkboard.
Tests and homework are passed back and forth over a fax machine.
``There's something intimate about it,'' Fanney said. ``I forget that I'm sitting in front of a machine sometimes.''
``I think I know him (Fanney) better than my other teachers, actually,'' Olivia said. Because they are the only students in the class, Olivia and David get more personal contact.
It's the first course of its kind in Virginia Beach schools. In previous years students have taken remote classes, sometimes called ``distance learning,'' by watching a television screen that projects a video image of a teacher instructing a class in front of a camera at another location. The benefit of that is that more students can take the class.
The downside is that students can't speak to the teacher directly; they must make contact over a phone. Nor can students write real-time notes back and forth with the teacher.
The program that allows Olivia and David to take their interactive class is called ProShare, by the Intel company. Computer Dynamics Inc., a local technology company, loaned the school system the $2,500 in software and equipment to run ProShare. CDI also has offered free training and technical support.
Training the kids was no problem, said Patricia M. Lang, account manager for CDI.
``The students picked it up immediately,'' she said. ``They have no fear of computers.''
At the end of the year, school officials will have the option of buying the program and equipment.
Lee Ritt, the school system's administrative coordinator of technology, said her office likely will look into purchasing some kind of interactive equipment and software.
Most likely, however, it will be a computer system that can accommodate more students. ProShare now has networking capabilities, so students on different computers within one school could hook up with a distant professor. But it will be at least a few months before ProShare will be able to connect multiple independent sites, so students at several different schools could link up.
Cox High School assistant principal Ron Harder said he expects more demand for distance learning, especially with Virginia Beach students being encouraged more and more to get an early start on advanced courses.
For more ideas from parents and teachers about challenging gifted students, check out the talented and gifted mailing list on the Internet. If you have an Internet mailbox, send an electronic mail message to LISTSERV(AT)ndsuvm1.bitnet, with the body of the message blank except for the following: SUBSCRIBE TAG-L your first name your last name. You'll receive regular messages and discussion in your e-mail box.
Christmas greetings
For the first time the official government issue Christmas greeting card will be available for viewing on the Internet as of last Friday (address: http://www.whitehouse.gov/). MEMO: The best of the Gateway columns can be found on the Computer Page of the
Pilot Online on the Internet. For details, see page A2.The best of the
Gateway columns can be found on the Computer Page of the Pilot Online on
the Internet. For details, see page A2.If you have any ideas or comments
for The Gateway, contact Rob Morris, robm(AT)infi.net or call 446-2362. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Joseph John Kotlowski, Staff
Olivia Peters and Dave Leichtman learn calculus by computer.
by CNB