Distance Learning Programming and Resources A-G H-O P-W HBO (Cable in the Classroom) Award-winning programs include: Encyclopedia and Lifestories: Families In Crisis. Educational programming can be exhibited in schools after obtaining specific written consent. Some video cassettes are available on a "lending library" basis. World Wide Web Site: http://www.homebox.com Justin Wills (212) 512-5471   Higher Education Channel - HEC, St. Louis, MO Students at the University of Missori-St. Louis and St. Louis Community College can view telecourses on HEC which covers the metropolitan area of St. Louis. HEC is funded by a tax on video cassette rentals.   Illinois Central College - ICC Two campuses of Illinois Central College are linked to each other through fiber-optic cable. A telecommunication distance learning system links the Peoria downtown campus. The system transmits classes, seminars and teleconferences. The linkup for ICC's two campuses allows classes to be taught via a two-way communication system. In other phases of the project, the college will be linked with area high schools and local businesses. Thirteen area high schools have expressed an interest in establishing a hookup with ICC's telecommunication system.   Ingenius, (INGEN) (Cable in the Classroom) Provides Xchange - an information service that delivers up-to-the-minute, unedited global news via cable to personal computers. Support materials are available via Xchange for ten national cable networks. Ingenius delivers What on Earth, a daily multimedia current-events learning resource, developed by educators with lesson plans and student activities for a powerful learning experience. World Wide Web Site: http://www.ingenius.com Judy Spurgeon (303) 705-8800   Interchange, Ziff Davis The Interchange service will accommodate Windows and Macintosh users. It features a point-and-click interface that's rich and uncluttered, providing the user with many options without overwhelming. Interchange will concentrate on computer information. The Washington Post has announced it will set up on-line editions via Interchange. Ziff will have an upcoming sports service. Subscribers to any Interchange service will also have access to Interchange Center, which offers e-mail as well as general news, sports, weather, and securities quotes. Interchange will search through all of its data banks to find every article, bulletin board item, shareware file, and discussion group that meets your criteria. You'll also be able to download files in the background while you browse other parts of the service. Interchange lets you create links between all materials because every item on the service is a distinct object that can be represented by an icon. Linking one object to another is as simple as dragging an icon. For example, if you want to send an article to a friend, drag the article's icon into the e-mail message (without downloading the data). The receiver clicks on the icon embedded in your message and goes directly to the linked material. The service is being tested now.   Internet Although not an education-focused project, the Internet deserves special mention because it is a means for accomplishing most of the current network educational activities. The Internet is a global network of networks. Users connected at local sites are able to "talk" to colleagues worldwide. The Internet uses the high-speed capability of the National Science Foundation's NSFnet, which serves as a backbone to the Internet, to link the various national, regional, and local networks. BITNET, for example, is a national network of colleges, universities, and research sites. Through the Internet, BITNET users can interact with colleagues all over the country and the world. Many of the network educational services use the Internet. Increasingly, access to the Internet is a key part of plugging into the world of networking. Millions of people currently use the Internet, and the number of nonprofit institutions and commercial services offering Internet connections is growing every day. This means that educators seeking to get involved with networking should aim, whenever possible, for access to the Internet.   Illinois Rivers Project, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville This telecommunications-based educational program is used by 87 Illinois schools. Students collect scientific data on various Illinois rivers and then communicate via modem with each other and with a central data base at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, the project coordination site.   Indiana Public Schools - IPS Indiana Bell and the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) designed a fiber optic interactive distance learning network. The closed-circuit television system, designed by Indiana Bell, uses more than 600 miles of fiber optics to provide interactive distance learning, videoconferencing, and television programming to more than 90 IPS locations. The system, linked by and end-to-end fiber optic network, enables two-way video communications between IPS sites as well as multipoint video communications. A research project explored the questions of how distance learning can enhance education. A telecommunications class is the vehicle for the project, designed to research the educational and technological possibilities of interactive distance learning. Broadcast-quality, two-way video technology links the instructor with students in Bloomington and Indianapolis.   Iowa Star Schools Project In 1992, a partnership of Iowa educators formed the "Iowa Distance Education Alliance: Partnerships for Interactive Learning Through Telecommunications in Iowa's Elementary and Secondary Schools." Iowa carries out the instruction over the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) a statewide two-way full motion interactive fiber optic telecommunications network. The goals of the project include coordinating distance education over the ICN; promoting awareness and understanding of the ICN; preparing and supporting teachers as they use distance education; electronically connecting educators to state, national and international telecommunications networks; improving and increasing the opportunities for instruction in mathematics, science, foreign languages, literacy skills, and vocational education; and establishing a program of research and evaluation to document the impact and effectiveness of distance education over the ICN.   Jason Project The most spectacular of the field trips has been the Jason Project in which Jason, a small robot submarine, traveled over the floor of the Mediterranean transmitting images of the ocean and sunken artifacts to more than a quarter of a million students in the United States and Canada via satellite. Dr. Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the expedition crew provided live commentary on the ocean environment being explored and answered students' questions through the satellite link. A special curriculum was developed for the project which covered oceanography, physical sciences, biology, history, geography, and telecommunications technology. When the Project moved to the Galapagos Islands, broadcasts of undersea and land life in these extraordinary islands were transmitted live to American students in schools and museums through satellite and cable networks. Selected teachers had the use of an interactive fax service, which allowed them to receive the project's curriculum materials on demand (NEA, 1991).   Jones Intercable With the distribution mechanism of cable and satellites widely available, Founder Glenn Jones focused on the problem of worldwide access to educational opportunities based on his belief that to be "shut out of the education race is to be shut out of the economic race." In 1987, he founded the cable network and distance learning company Mind Extension University (ME/U): The Education Network. Today, under the Jones Education Company (JEC) banner, ME/U now operates as two different subsidiaries: Knowledge TV, television's only network dedicated to how-to and instructional programs for the practical, personal and professional enrichment of its viewers; and JEC College Connection, a distance learning company that allows students in remote geographic regions and those with scheduling conflicts and family commitments to pursue regionally accredited college degrees and courses from recognized universities from the comfort and convenience of their own homes. College Connection and International University (IU), a virtual university founded by Jones, delivers education and promotes interactivity between students and their professors via the Internet, World Wide Web, cable television, video tape, and other distance learning platforms. JEC also operates Knowledge Online, a comprehensive Website located at www.jec.edu, and JEC Knowledge Store, the company's electronic retailer, offering more than 300 original and hard-to-find videos, audios, books and CD-ROMs. http://www.jec.com   K12Net K12Net is one of many networks for elementary and secondary school students and their teachers. K12Net establishes "echo" forums around major curriculum areas. Educators and students interested in a particular topic can communicate and work cooperatively with other interested individuals throughout the world. For example, Global Village News is a K12Net news service involving students from around the globe. K12Net is open to anyone who has access to a local computer bulletin board. Access to K12Net is through FidoNet, a free general-interest computer network that joins more than 15,000 computer bulletin boards in more than 50 countries.   Kansas Regents Educational Communications Center The ECC offers full-year high school Spanish language courses via satellite. Course instruction focuses on the four basic skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing as well as cultural awareness. Learning is enhanced through a variety of instructional formats, including textbooks, audiocassettes, videotapes, lesson plans and computer software. Life broadcasts are on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 45-minutes each. Phone interaction between the television instructor and students occurs regularly during broadcasts. The Spanish via satellite staff offers daily assistance to teachers partners and students via toll-free telephone. Schools designate a teaching partner who is a certified teacher, but does not need to know Spanish. The teaching partner is highly valued as a key element in the success of the program. In addition to supervising students and assigning grades, the partner is encouraged to attend a training workshop or watch a training videotape; they receive year long support though regular mailing sand telephone contact with the instructor and staff. Due to the unique nature of the course and the demand upon the teaching partner, ECC limits enrollment to 15 students per class, saying that field research "indicates that class sizes of 15 or less create an environment between the teaching partner and students that nurtures a `learning team' approach; larger classes tend to create a dichotomized, adversarial environment."   KIDSNET Accessible through the Internet, KIDSNET is an international discussion group for teachers and others interested in networking for children and education. Participants discuss general questions about computer networking, user interfaces, and specific projects that link teachers and students using the Internet. KIDS, an associated list just for children, was set up after children's messages to each other began appearing on KIDSNET.   Kids Network, National, Geographic Society Geography Education Program NGS Kids Network is an innovative computer and telecommunications-based science curriculum for grades 4 through 6 in which student-scientists investigate new ideas and exchange information with students around the world. The Geography Education Program, or GEP, is the heart of the National Geographic Society's effort to restore geography to the nation's classrooms. Working in tandem with the National Geographic Society Education Foundation, the GEP mobilizes a wide range of Society resources to improve geography instruction. It focuses these resources in five strategic areas: grass-roots organization, teacher education, materials development, public awareness, and outreach to educational decision-makers. The NGS Kids Network area on America Online is designed to provide information about NGS Kids Network to those who are not already participants. It also provides a place for NGS Kids Network participants to continue to communicate long after their scheduled time together has ended. "WKID Communications" is a place where Kids Network participants can send messages to each other and organize new joint projects. "NGS Kids Network Laboratories" allows participants to exchange project work, can be used by NGS Kids Network participants and others for conferences or informal chats. Content areas include solar energy, acid rain, weather, and environmental concerns. In the GEP Online area, geography teachers can read articles from Geography Education UPDATE, the nation's leading newsletter for geography teachers; exchange ideas with other teachers on a geography teaching message board; network via the National Geographic Alliances; plan for the coming year with a regularly updated GEP Calendar; exchange lesson plans in a Geography Teaching Lesson Plan Library; and hold conferences or have informal real-time chats with each other in the Explorers Hall conference room.   Knowledge TV (KNOW) (Cable in the Classroom) Provides knowledge to empowers individuals to propel their own lives and have better life experiences. Programming falls into four need-to-know categories of: Business, Careers and Finance; Health and Wellness; Global Culture and Language; and Computers and Technology. Achievement TV, Knowledge TV's classroom programming, introduces a revolutionary concept by bringing individuals who have shaped the history of the twentieth century directly into the classroom via live interactive teleconferences that are cablecast nationwide. Extraordinary leaders, scientists, explorers, entrepreneurs, athletes, and authors are featured. World Wide Web Site: http://www.jec.edu Jeff Baumgartner 1-800-777-Mind