Wednesday, May 2, 2001

Education Students Use Videoconferencing to Visit an Urban Classroom By SCOTT CARLSON Education students at Purdue University are spending some time as talking heads before they move to the head of the class. The university, in rural Indiana, is testing a system that allows future teachers to observe and even lead classes in a faraway urban setting. Although the system does not replace in-class teaching and observation assignments for students, it has given them an opportunity to experience urban classrooms -- virtually, at least -- with an instructor sitting nearby, as a guide to the on-screen action. "Students that go through this experience become more experienced observers of the classroom in their first semester," says James D. Lehman, a professor of educational technology who is co-director of the project. "We hope that this will have a carry-over effect -- that once they do start going out to the classrooms, they'll know better what to look for." The system consists of a camera and a microphone at each end, connected through the Internet. The students at Purdue can control the remote camera to pan across the classroom or zoom in on one student. Likewise, a teacher at the school can control a camera at Purdue when an education student is giving a guest lesson. Mr. Lehman says each camera costs about $2,500. Purdue has set up the system with only one classroom, at an elementary school in East Chicago, Ind. But the university plans to expand the program to three other Indiana schools that can support the system technologically. Mr. Lehman says that although other urban schools have the Internet technology to support the camera, sometimes their technology-support staff members have a hard time figuring out how to set it up. In addition, poking a hole into a firewall can sometimes be challenging. Mr. Lehman notes that the virtual observation and teaching are used in only one class at the beginning of the education program and will not replace the real thing. "We're using this as an opportunity to show them things that they would not see otherwise," he says. The system has been convenient for the students at Purdue, in West Lafayette, Ind., a one- to three-hour drive from urban schools. "We say that we are out in the middle of cornfields," Mr. Lehman says. "So we really don't have close metropolitan areas where students can see urban classroom settings, more diverse settings than we have around here." Kate Eid, an education student who grew up attending suburban schools, says that her virtual experience with the elementary school in East Chicago persuaded her to pursue a job at an urban school. She says the video transmission was seamless, with no delay. "They could have been in a room next door," she says. But she adds that some elements of teaching were lost through the distance. "We did feel a little removed because you couldn't walk up to a student and say, Hey, can I help you with this?" she says. Ms. Eid also could not gauge the reaction of particular students unless she zoomed in, "and you can't zoom in on every student at once." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Democrats on House panel accuse Bush of seeking 'token increase' for student aid Yale U. upholds firing of professor in child-pornography case Animal-rights group takes hundreds of ducklings from Cornell University lab Fire in private dorm at U. of Texas kills one student and injures another Sex, please, we're British: Many students strip to pay bills, BBC reports Student clashes result in injuries and shutdown of Venezuela's largest university Spring commencement speakers are announced by 20 colleges Berkeley scholar receives prestigious economics award National Academy of Sciences elects 88 to its ranks Scholar says students should learn how to maintain large information systems Education students use videoconferencing to visit an urban classroom