THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030354
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 65 lines
Without ever leaving the classroom, America's schoolchildren soon will take ``virtual field trips'' to locations around the world, and they will have simultaneous ``shared experiences'' - thanks to computers and other emerging technology.
And teachers and students in Norfolk and two other school districts in South Hampton Roads will be leading the way.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education gave $1.2 million to Norfolk school officials, launching the first year of a nationwide initiative to improve the ways schools use technology.
The city school district was among 24 districts nationwide to receive more than $23 million Wednesday as part of a five-year initiative in 34 states. Education Department officials described the grant award, sought by hundreds of districts, as a coup for the city.
Norfolk will serve as the lead school district in a five-year, $5.9 million technology project called the Education Connection, which will link the district to 21 public schools and six public broadcasting TV stations in five states and the District of Columbia.
City school officials will oversee a plan to use the money to train teachers at urban Ruffner Middle School in Norfolk, suburban Larkspur Middle School in Virginia Beach and rural Smithfield Middle School in Isle of Wight County in classroom use of computers and other technology. They will work with public TV station WHRO.
Local teachers also will help develop a technology-based curriculum for middle school students in history, English and fine arts, and will explore the use of technology in math and science.
The other partners involved with Norfolk, including schools and businesses in California, Mississippi, Louisiana, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C., will develop technology-based curriculum for elementary and high school students. All of the curriculum will be shared with school districts nationwide via sites on the Internet's World Wide Web.
Wednesday's check presentation in Norfolk was made at Ruffner Middle, a 3-year-old school designed with state-of-the-art education technology.
Making the presentation was Wilson Goode, director of regional services for the U.S. Department of Education. He was joined by Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va., and U.S. Rep. Owen B. Pickett, D-2nd.
Sixth-grade Ruffner students who participated said they were excited. They oohed and aahed when they saw the oversized check for $1.2 million.
``We're fortunate for having all the technology because most kids don't get to work with it,'' said April Holden, 11.
``The world is focusing more on technology day by day,'' said Louis Sleeper, 11, ``and if you get a job and all they want is knowledge about technology you're not going to get that far.''
The grant money will help develop ways for schools to use technology to improve learning, and key to that is teacher training, said Tom Doering, a technology specialist with Norfolk schools.
``So many times we get buildings with machinery, but we don't train people how to use it,'' Doering said. The instructional possibilities created by computer technology include ``virtual field trips,'' said Lawrence E. Crum, WHRO's senior vice president for Educational Futures. For example, using video, audio and computer connections, students could travel to Historic Williamsburg without leaving the classroom, talking to historians and accessing archives ordinarily available only by driving there.
Students nationwide could have ``shared experiences,'' including critiquing each others' writing. by CNB