Distance Learning Connects Students to Far-Off Classrooms (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

DISTANCE LEARNING CONNECTS STUDENTS TO FAR-OFF CLASSROOMS

By MARIA FORTI
NeXt Correspondent
3/1/2006
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060301/1026142.asp
	
[photo inset - Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News
City Honors senior Megan Carroll listens to Gowanda teacher Tom  
Janicki teach the Design in Fashion course from 45 miles away.]

So your school lacks the certified teachers to offer abnormal  
psychology or anthropology, or maybe it doesn't have enough  
interested students to offer the Advanced Placement U.S. History  
class that you really wanted to ace.

If you're lucky, you just might be able to rely on "Distance  
Learning: Project Connect."

Sponsored by the Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services,  
"Distance Learning: Project Connect" helps schools share resources by  
connecting them via television and audio technology. The teacher only  
needs to be at one school, and students from three other schools can  
"tune in" from miles away.

Offering anything from athletic training to cartooning to dairy  
science, film criticism to landscaping, the New York State Distance  
Learning Consortium is striving to give students more options than  
those available at their own school.

Tom Janicki, who has been broadcasting a Design in Fashion course  
from Gowanda High School for seven years, says BOCES started the  
program because "some of the smaller school districts couldn't offer  
the electives that were necessary for a lot of the kids."

For example, he noted that Gowanda schools "teach Seneca language  
because we have a large Native American population, but there are  
three other schools that tap into [the class] that have Seneca  
language students and of course, how many teachers are going to be  
certified in Seneca language?"

Janicki noted the difficulties of teaching Design in Fashion, which  
is essentially an art class, from a distance. "I have to adjust  
[projects] to fit the classroom because we don't have access to all  
the art supplies and things."

Students in his design class, however, don't seem to mind.

"I think it is cool that you get to see other kids from other  
schools," said Alexandra Omicioli, a Gowanda senior. She also takes a  
Pre-Veterinary Distance Learning course where the teacher is from  
Pioneer High School.

It is in her Pre-Vet class that she sees the expected drawbacks of  
the Distance Learning Program. Sometimes [our Pre-Vet teacher] will  
make us photocopy our homework and fax it over. It can be a hassle,  
but it's not that bad." Students also take faxed tests. And,  
Alexandra adds, "It takes longer to get grades."

Teaching non-art classes over the Distance Learning Program can be  
difficult as well. Gary Witek, a teacher at City Honors, broadcasts  
AP Calculus to students at Bennett High School as well as  
Franklinville. The class is during "ninth" period - first thing in  
the morning.

"It's really tough to start doing calculus at 7:30 in the morning,"  
Witek says. The class is held so early in order to accommodate  
students who would not otherwise have room in their schedules.

Broadcasting a math class poses particular challenges.

"You have a very small limited screen that people can digitally see,  
so where you're used to seeing an entire board of material, now  
you're only seeing a small snapshot - if you zoom out to show [the  
big picture] then the writing is way too small for the students to  
see. So you have to go at a slower pace to show the problems," Witek  
added.

However, the program is not all bad. Witek feels that Distance  
Learning is valuable to students, and not just educationally. "People  
from the different sites interface with each other and [the Distance  
Learning Program] shows that kids in different schools are all the  
same. If they have a desire to learn, they will do the work and learn  
no matter what time of the day it is," he said.

Overall, the Distance Learning Program gives students an opportunity  
they would not otherwise have. "You learn to be more independent,"  
says Alexandra. And whether students seize the opportunity to take  
funky art classes not offered at their school or to get college  
credit, the program supports self-motivated students who are looking  
to challenge themselves further.

Enrollment in a Distance Learning Program depends on whether your  
school has the technology to connect to the network, whether the  
class you want is offered at a time that fits into your schedule and  
whether enough students at your school sign up for the class.

For more information, talk to your guidance counselor or visit  
www.nysdlc.org.

Maria Forti is a senior at City Honors. 
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