TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION DIGEST
Digest No. 9 -- July 8, 1997
A Moderated Mailing List
Steve Wildstrom (steve_wildstrom@businessweek.com), Moderator

Return to Technology & Education

I read your most recent column "Readin' Writin' and the Internet" and would like to direct your attention to an organization (a consortium of schools in 33 countries worldwide) that is doing some of the best collaborative work on the Internet. I*EARN (International Education and Resource Network) is focused on empowering youth to make a difference in the world through telecommunications. Take a look at their web site (www.iearn.org/iearn/) specifically the Nicaraguan Rope Pump Project and the Global Indigenous Art Project, among others. I am sure that Ed Gragert, Director of I*EARN-U.S. would be happy to answer any questions you might have regarding I*EARN's work.

All the best,
Elizabeth Hauge Sword

[We'd love to hear from Mr. Gragert--MOD]

RGE Engineering Services Co., the company I work for, formed a partnership with BELVEDERE Elementary School [in northern Virginia--MOD] in order to emphasize to children that math and science are very useful tools that will be used throughout the rest of their lives. We do this by the incorporation of a shuttle cockpit and with the use of 12 computers.

My thoughts about your paragraph issue "Education Technology".

A school staff member needs to be designated as a full time technologist in order to maintain a reasonable understanding of the fast changing requirements of curriculum development integrated with internet capability, video media, cable TV, computers, etc. No matter how much money you throw at a school the end product, children, will not learn anything unless the educator is inventive, creative, dedicated, to the cause: educating a child with the tools available. I will be able to integrate 4th/5th grade math problems into the Young Astronauts program to help with the math curriculum. A space shuttle cockpit at BELVEDERE is the ultimate teaching tool because so many things can be done with it.

The following is a description I sent to Sharon Arakaki in Hawaii:

Hello Sharon,

I was in HAWAII along time of go when I was in the Navy. I really envy the people who have found a home there.

When you asked if there was a way to share my work in this field I'm not quite sure in what way you want me to do this without specifics. The school I'm associated with does not have internet in our shuttle lab but there are 4 computers hooked up in the library. Also look for RGE Engineering Services Co. on the INTERNET to see a Web page of the 1st year Young Astronaut Space Day at BELVEDERE Elementary. The 2nd year (1997) was better; however, the newer presentation will take time to construct on the Web.

Let me give you an idea of what I do for the students and the enhancement of technology in the classroom.

I have been with the Young Astronauts Program for over 5 years. This experience has taught me to involve the students, make them earn their way through this curriculum by giving incentive and several "pats on the back" as their progression meets your expectations. To consult those that fail to meet the rules initially laid out by the Chapter Leader. It is very important to identify those students immediately who do not conform to the following, code of classroom etiquette, behavior, listening, assisting peers, leadership, lack of teamwork, etc; otherwise you would be stuck with constant consoling and never be able to meet the goal of simulating space flight. My program utilizes computer scripts, based upon actual checklists that astronauts use, written for an adult. Reading comprehension is very important. Otherwise the pace of participation is sorely slowed down. This is a great tool that benefits language skills and vocabulary.

The incentive comes when a select group of 4 individuals become the flight crew inside a plywood constructed 9 ft long X 7 ft wide X 7 ft tall shuttle, containing schematically correct panels (gotten by International Rockwell), currently 158 toggle switches for the panels (more coming), 5 1/2 inch black and white TV with two joysticks interfaced with an IBM 386 computer (to simulate shuttle flight, launch and deorbit) [future]), a Mission Specialist computer for pre-orbit operations, 4 launch/entry pressure suits, headsets (just cost a dollar apiece that are integrated with an intercom system to maintain contact with the firing room/mission control center.

All the students rotate through flight positions and the twelve firing room/mission control positions (made up of IBM computers that were donated by various companies and parents.) A security camera is installed in the shuttle cockpit so I can keep tabs on flight crew performance. The cockpit is encapsulated in a pegboard boxed type enclosure which will allow me to mount 88 shoeboxes (installed 3 white XMAS tree lights through the back of the shoebox, lined with aluminum foil internally, and black tag board that has a holed constellation field covering the opening.)

The student's overall goal is to perform the launch procedures in a timely manner and do it without loss of concentration. The computerized scripts have embedded console casualties (8) that the students have to address by typing in the proper repair code in order to continue on with the procedures. I want to have the students solve mathematical problems, 4th/5th grade level, to come up with the repair codes. This way the school math curriculum is incorporated into the program and this in turn will show the students that math is an important tool in our everyday lives.

Since math and science is becoming a more and more important issue for schools, I think the best way to gravitate children toward them is to use a setup I just described. The Space Shuttle cockpit is a perfect tool to use when multipurpose subjects are emphasized. As an example Geography is taught when I have the flight crew identify their location in latitude and longitude in reference to an STS Shuttle orbital map, acquired from NASA. Physics experiments can be performed by using Young Astronaut curriculum. Basic electronics can be taught by setting up a soldering station and fixing various circuits or wiring components together. Basic astronomy is taught with a simulated onboard telescope that magnifies a group of stars and can veer in 4 directions to center the constellation. From there the students look on a star chart and identify which constellation they have found. Basic computer instruction can be taught by having students power up/power down/load software/setup the software in the firing room/mission control center. The software was written by me for all these activities using Qbasic found in DOS 5.0 and above. The point is having students simulate space flight (involvement) creates incentive to learn more. Imagination is a big player.

After all the above training has occurred, the Young Astronauts at BELVEDERE simulate a shuttle mission for the school during the annual Space Day or Science/Technology Day. The rest of the school is busy participating in classroom activities that involve math, science, and technology. And this happens all day. This time we were able to have a camera in the shuttle lab and monitor the shuttle launch procedures from all the TVs in the classrooms. It was just like having NASA TV beamed in when a real shuttle launch occurs. There is certainly a lot more that could be said about this particular setup at BELVEDERE but I would be rambling on forever. What ever technology is available in the school should be fully capitalized upon to its full extent. If there is any way to integrate school curriculum with the technology possessed its time to do it.

I hope the above has helped give you ideas. Also as a last suggestion, get a school partnership with a technically based company that can supply old computers. Get parents involved! When parents see a good thing, they will contribute a lot to your cause because the children we teach deserve the best education.

Stay in touch HAWAII,

Mike Stanton
(703)-813-3414 work
(703)-916-9295 home

My client, Wi-LAN, has been very involved in helping our public schools connect wirelessly to the Internet since the company's May, 1996 involvement in a ClassLink project in Richmond, VA. A completed project in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada connects all schools in the district to the Internet with fast, T-1 like speeds -- saving the district a great deal of money. I enclose a short version of the story to give you an idea of how thrilled the district is with wireless technology. Two new projects, one in Iowa and one in Montana, illustrate that wireless technology is a proven and reliable means for Internet connectivity and can help schools achieve widespread Internet access for all students.

I hope you might consider a Business Week story on how the private sector is helping our public schools take advantage of the world of knowledge available on the WWW -- teaching elementary to high school age students computer skills at the same time. Wireless connectivity makes sense for school districts which lack funds for such worthwhile projects.

Please contact me if you have any questions,or would like additional information.

Best Regards,
Lori Scribner

Wireless Network Gets A+ From Medicine Hat School District

One-hundred and fifty years ago, the Blackfoot tribe of Alberta, Canada communicated over long distances using drums. Today, the students of Alberta's Medicine Hat School District 76 still use the airwaves to communicate, but rather than drums, they use sophisticated wireless communications to send messages, share data and connect to the wealth of information found on the Internet.

In 1994, Doug Pudwell, District Secretary Treasurer, was assigned the task of building a wide area network (WAN) to connect the various LANs and link the 1500 computers in the school district. Around the same time, the Canadian government mandated that all Canadian schools be connected to the Internet by the end of 1996. Mr. Pudwell went to work researching various technology alternatives. "Our district needed to find a solution built on proven technology with readily available products, a solution that was cost-effective, and, most importantly, one that would be of immediate benefit to the students," said Pudwell.

Over the next 18 months, a myriad of solutions were investigated, beginning with the fiber optic cable being installed by the city of Medicine Hat. Though fiber optics was an attractive alternative from a data throughput perspective, the $1 million price tag was prohibitive. Plus, the students would have had to wait four to five years for the city to complete its network. The district also explored Cablevision, but the cable option was more expensive than using the existing phone lines and is still not available today.

ISDN appeared to be the best solution, but the district would have had to spend a one-time fee of $70,000 to install an ISDN line and pay the phone company $40,000 per year in annual service fees.

"I thought that ISDN was the answer, since it was readily available," said Pudwell. "On closer inspection, I determined that ISDN wouldn't give me a good return on my technology investment. That's when I began looking very seriously at wireless and discovered that it met all of my criteria."

Pudwell evaluated wireless solutions from several vendors and selected the solution offered by Wi-LAN, Inc. of Calgary, Alberta after an onsite demonstration by company. Wi-LAN began installing the network in June 1996. The company used approximately 20 Wi-LAN Hopper Plus wireless bridges to connect 15 schools, a public library and three administration buildings spread over an area of approximately 50 square miles. While the majority of the Hopper Plus bridges operate in the 915MHz band, Wi-LAN added several 2.4GHz models operating at various frequencies to maximize throughput and prevent interference between the units.

Because the Medicine Hat district is hilly and is dissected by the South Saskatchewan river, Wi-LAN chose Alexandra Junior High School, the highest point in the district, as the center of the installation. Using a 2.4Ghz Hopper Plus operating at medium frequency, Wi-LAN established a high-speed, point-to-point link between Alexandra and the district's Internet service provider to eliminate any possible performance bottleneck. Wi-LAN also used a 2.4GHz bridge to connect two schools separated by the river and not visible to each other.

"With throughput of 2Mbps, the wireless WAN gives us 10 times the throughput of ISDN at a fraction of the cost," continued Pudwell. "The district will be able to pay for the network in less than two years, without a recurring annual service charge to consume our budget."

Since the wireless WAN installation was finalized in September of 1996, it has provided tremendous benefits to District 76 of Medicine Hat. In addition to obvious benefits such as E-mail for faculty and students, most of the time- and paper-intensive administrative processes, such as purchasing, budgeting, maintaining student records, are now done online. Inventory and purchasing functions have been further simplified using Royal Bank Visa Purchasing Cards. Over one-third of the district's employees currently use the cards -- giving them direct access to all purchase details through the wireless WAN. In the future, supplies will be ordered directly from a central warehouse, which will reduce delivery time from two weeks to one day in most cases.

"We haven't done an official cost analysis since we installed the network, but it's clear that we are realizing substantial savings," said Pudwell. "The students of the district are benefiting as well. Access to the Internet has opened up a new world of information and opportunity."

In addition to the Internet, the wireless network will provide all the schools in the district with access to the Distance Education Program. The Program features a rich curriculum developed in conjunction with five other school districts in Ottawa. Through a Learning Center made possible by the wireless network, students are able to enroll in classes to which they wouldn't normally have access.

Medicine Hat School District 76 is the first school district in all of Canada to enjoy the benefits of wireless networking. However, that may be changing as the word gets out about its many benefits. According to Pudwell, "These days I spend a lot of time talking to educators throughout Canada and the US about the wonders of Medicine Hat's wireless network."

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