From the April - May  2001 Edition 

Videoconference: Reaching Beyond the School Walls   By: Barbara A. Laudicina (Technology Resource Specialist, Fair Lawn Public Schools)   When Fair Lawn elementary students are immersed in an area of study, they may find themselves taking a virtual field trip without ever leaving the school building!    Through the use of videoconference technology, students have participated in various opportunities for distance learning from places like the Cincinnati Zoo to a classroom of year six students at Sir Francis Hill Primary School in England. (See Related Article)    Teachers from first through fifth grades have utilized this exciting medium in an effort to motivate learning and provide students with a state-of-the-art interactive forum in the instructional process.   Videoconference technology comes in a few varieties. One of the two most frequently used is the classroom to classroom connection where students from one region will work in a parallel or complimentary fashion with a partner class. The other type involves the commission of content providers, like NASA, who provide students with a rich delivery of information in an interactive forum. While there is a reasonable fee for most content providers, NASA’s services are free.   On February 7, fifth graders from Warren Point School participated in the district’s first interactive videoconference instrumental concert directed by Ms. Alla Basis and her remote site colleague, Ms. Beth Lemke of Burleigh Elementary School in Wisconsin. The teachers exchanged musical selections via fax, then began preparing their orchestras for the cooperative performance. Two dress rehearsals were conducted through videoconference to brainstorm possibilities that might help compensate for the time delay experienced with this medium. On the day of the performance each group performed music that had been shared by the other site. Students also presented questions to one another ranging from the discipline involved in mastering an instrument to the types of communities in which each school is found. For the finale, the children played “Ode to Joy”, alternating musical parts and celebrating this innovative achievement.   This unique videoconference event is only one among many being implemented throughout the Fair Lawn School District. Ms. Sharon Berk’s first graders at Lyncrest School have engaged several sessions with their remote site classmates in Fairfax County, Virginia. Each Fair Lawn first grader conducted research on an animal, then made an oral presentation to their partner class via videoconference. Virginia’s first graders also made presentations to their friends in Fair Lawn and in cooperation with a class of hearing impaired students, incorporated the use of sign language.   Other student to student projects have included, second graders enhancing their study of Mexico by collaborating with New Brunswick High School Mexican-American ESL students, fifth graders from Pine Hill, NJ teaching their Fair Lawn counterparts how to create diamonte poems, and fourth graders in Fair Lawn and Somerdale, NJ comparing their schools and communities, among others.   Several content providers have recently been commissioned for Fair Lawn students at Lyncrest, Radburn, and Warren Point schools. Third graders have participated in an interactive videoconference on seatbelt safety to enhance their study of the health curriculum. Fourth graders have taken a virtual field trip back in time to Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May, NJ to experience a typical school day in the 1800’s. Fifth graders have toured the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston and been given a bird’s eye view of the continued construction of International Space Station and its potential missions.   As our youngsters engage the technology that was once the imaginative vision of science fiction, the Fair Lawn schools are providing their students with opportunities for learning that go beyond the textbook. Distance learning through videoconference seeks to empower students’ learning experiences by dissolving the limits once imposed by the physical boundaries of the school building. Learning is no longer confined to the classroom.     What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.