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From the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico,
Distance Learning Covers Ground (and Water!) |
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Contact: Lisa Young 251/861-7509 Students in Ms. Tanya Hancockıs enrichment program in Scottsboro, Alabama received a lesson on SCUBA equipment and oyster reef monitoring from educators hundreds of miles away on Dauphin Island. Using cutting edge technology, Diane McKinnon of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Al Gunter of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab taught students about different types of SCUBA equipment and the types of research for which they are used. Scottsboro, Alabama is perched on the Tennessee River in the northeast corner of the state; Dauphin Island is a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. Connecting these two locations with uplink technology was Cathy Mitchell of the 21st Century Council Impact Learning Center. This group provides video teleconferencing from eight different sites throughout Alabama. Unlike viewing a videotape, distance learning allows the student immediate access to the lecturer or teacher. During this most recent class, Ms. McKinnonıs presentation on oyster reef monitoring techniques was bombarded with a variety of questions: "How do you spell brackishı?" "How big do oysters get?" Mr. Gunter explained how scientists at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab used different types of SCUBA equipment to conduct different experiments. Students in Scottsboro had the opportunity to see Ms. McKinnon try on a dry-suit, a twenty-pound weight belt and a forty-pound oxygen tank just like the Sea Lab scientists who conduct experiments in Antarctica. Ms. Hancock, who teaches in the Jackson County EXCEL program (Exceptional Children Enrichment Learning), praises these advances in technological learning,: "This class brought up many subjects that I will want to expand upon for my students, like the watershed and oyster growth. Also, some of the schools I deal with are very rural, where students may not easily have a chance to visit beaches that exist here in our own state. Doing this really brought those lessons about the water to life itıs wonderful." Website links: 21st Century Council Impact Learning Center: www.impactlc.org Dauphin Island Sea Lab: www.disl.org Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: http://www.dcnr.state.al.us/mr |
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