BY MICHELLE MILLER
STAFF WRITER
School districts are starting
to think outside the box when
determining what programs
and courses to offer students.
As enrollment numbers continue
to decline and cuts in
state aid are proposed, school
districts are beginning to rely
more heavily on technology
to cut costs.
Several schools already provide
distance learning, where
students from various schools
are taught by a teacher via-internet
connection. The question
is, will schools rely more
on distance learning and
other technological resources
as teachers retire in order to
cut costs?
Peter Livshin, superintendent
of Milford Central School,
says that is exactly what MCS
plans to do. The one thing
MCS has going for it is its
distance learning room, says
Livshin.
According to Livshin, the
district has begun looking at
the master schedule for the
room. The goal is to have the
room busy every period, he
says.
MCS Board of Education
President Tom Brennan says
students have attended classes
this semester with students
from Roxbury, Stamford and
Edmeston through distance
learning. Milford teachers
have taught in the past, and
will teach next semester, says
Brennan who says the district
is exploring tapping into other
instructional arrangements
with Morris and Gilboa.
``Milford is prepared to
pursue any cooperative arrangement
locally, regionally,
nationally or internationally
that benefits Milford kids and
taxpayers,’’ says Brennan.
According to Livshin, the
distance learning room is
used throughout the day, but
it is not used to its maximum.
He says the district plans to
offer Spanish through distance
learning next year and
is looking at offering French
in the future. Livshin says the
district can make money on
every class it teaches through
distance learning.
There are no positive
projections that decreasing
enrollments will not continue
and it is hard to tell whether
small schools will be able to
be self-sufficient and continue
to survive, says Livshin. He
believes rural schools will
have to look into the concept
of online high schools _ also
called virtual high schools.
This technology is becoming
more popular across the
country and some urban
schools in New York have
already started testing it, says
Livshin.
During last week’s MCS
board of education meeting,
Otsego-
Northern
Catskills
BOCES
Superintendent
Nicholas
Savin said
he believes
online offerings
will be
the most cost
effective way
to deal with
decreasing
enrollments.
He said once
equipment is purchased, there
are little cost because school
districts will not have to worry
about the equipment getting
sick or having to pay retirement
costs.
Online classes may help enhance
curriculums, especially
for rural schools, by providing
options to students the
district itself does not have
the resources to provide on
its own, said Savin. Distance
learning was designed for
smaller classes whereas online
courses will be able to serve
a large number of students,
according to Savin.
Although Livshin says he
believes the technology will
help save money, he says he
believes the new concept will
``open a can of worms’’ and
will ``clearly butt heads’’ with
the teachers’
union.
``What I am
hoping is it will
do is open up
more collegelevel
courses,’’
says Livshin.
``Hopefully, it
won’t mess too
much with core
classes.’’
Livshin says
he does not
know where the
whole concept
is headed and there will be
things to consider such as, will
students be self-motivated
enough to get on a computer
to complete work at such
a young age and how will
classes be moderated.
Cooperstown Central
School began offering virtual
field trips to students through
its Polycom Video Conferencing
Unit in November.
According to Mark LaValley,
network systems coordinator,
the unit is being used primarily
for virtual field trips and
meetings.
LaValley says using the unit
for meetings helps save the
staff from having to travel.
He says the use of the unit in
classrooms has been slow but
steady as teachers find a place
for it in their daily routines.
Scheduling and planning
ahead of time is key, says
LaValley.
According to LaValley,
teachers have to find the
appropriate virtual field trip
or class, then schedule it and
make sure it fits the curriculum
they are teaching. For
example, LaValley says a social
studies teacher who teaches
a class on World War II in the
spring, may want to schedule
a virtual field trip at the World
War II floating museum _ The
Intrepid _ in New York City. He
says the teacher would need
to gather information at the
museum’s website and then
send an e-mail to schedule a
date and time for the virtual
field trip in advance in order
to save the time slot.
``It takes some work to be
that organized and ahead of
time,’’ says LaValley.
LaValley says, as expected,
the students really seem to
like using the new technology.
It is something different from
the daily classroom routine
and gives students a chance
to interact with ``experts’’ in
a particular field, says LaValley.
For example, on Nov. 24,
first-graders had the opportunity
to experience an
underwater exhibition lesson
at the Columbus Zoo by using
the Polycom Video Conferencing
Unit.
Representatives at the zoo
sent packets of information
and activities to the students
before they went on their
virtual field trip to be used
as part of the lesson. LaValley
says a zoo instructor led
the class via two-way video
conference for an interactive
experience that lasted about
an hour. The instructor talked
about a specific animal and its
habitat, and then switched to
a live shot of the animal at the
zoo, all in real time.
According to LaValley,
video conference technology
is decades old, but more
people are using it on a daily
basis. SKYPE is very popular
with teens who like to talk to
friends and family over long
distances, says LaValley. He
says the video conference
technology also used to be
very expensive, but now is
very affordable.
