Thanks for all the wonderful information. I wish I had more room to
write more. Please make any necessary changes and return ASAP. I sent
one email to all of you, since you may want to get in touch with one
another about your programs. Take care. Sharon Cohen
Explorers Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft were not alone when they
completed a 1,717- mile, 94-day trek across Antarctica to become the
first women in history to cover the continent on foot. Through the power
of technology, thousands of students from schools such as John F.
Kennedy High in Bronx, New York, and Hussman Elementary in Crystal Lake,
Illinois, traveled with the former teachers as they braved the blizzards
to reach their goal.
Nor were adventurers Rich Wilson and Bill Biewenga by themselves as they
set a new sailing record for the 14,000 miles from New York City to
Melbourne in their 53-foot trimaran sailboat Great American II. Via the
World Wide Web, students from schools such as Jackson School in Newton,
Massachusetts, and St. Michael's Country Day in Newport, Rhode Island,
struggled with the crew as strong headwinds threatened success.
Both the Antarctica and sailing pioneers set out with laptop computers
to record a daily journal of their missions. Classes worldwide followed
the day-to-day challenges, delighting with progress made and worrying
when weather hindered expected destinations. Through e-mails, message
boards, audio and video, students communicated with the travelers. Says
one high school girl in her note to Arnesen and Bancroft: "you have
inspired me to reach for my dream, which I never before felt I could
meet!"
Websites such as sitesalive.com, yourexpedition.com, and
globalschoolnet.org give distant classrooms the opportunity to share
with scientists, educators and other students who are exploring in other
parts of the world.
Sitesalive.com started interacting with students way before the World
Wide Web was conceived. In 1988 Founder and President Rich Wilson won
Class V in the Carlsberg Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, a 3,000 miles
non-stop sail from Plymouth, England, to Newport, Rhode Island. During
that grueling race, his telephone interviews with a Boston radio station
enthralled a large number of listeners. This gave Wilson, a lifelong
educator, the idea to create an adventure for engaging children from
afar that would offer a variety of disciplines required in offshore
sailing. As he says: "Once you've hooked the kids with excitement, you
can feed them whatever content you want--math, science, nutrition,
biology, astronomy, teamwork, perseverance, goal-setting..."
In 1993, Wilson arranged with Prodigy for the first online interactive
adventure. Students followed his activities when he decided to beat the
sailing record from San Francisco to Boston by way of Cape Horn set
during the California Gold Rush by the clipper Northern Light. Arriving
in Boston in record time, he was greeted by a thousand of the one-third
million schoolchildren who followed the event through newspapers and
Prodigy.
The growth of the World Wide Web has encouraged educational companies
and institutions to further this distant learning opportunity. The
Island School, in Eleuthera , Bahamas, is a semester-long exploration of
the tropical marine environment with a strong science curricula for
10-11th graders. Working with scientists at the Aquaculture Research
Center, students are involved with independent research projects such as
a conch population survey and on artificial reefs. Participants post
their journals to get input from classes wanting information on the
science experiments as well as geography, culture and climate.
Students throughout the world seriously followed Liv Arnesen and Ann
Bancroft’s trek across Antarctica. Many teachers planned curricula in
conjunction with this momentous event. Betty Trummel, a 4th-grade
teacher at Husmann Elementary School who once explored the Antarctic
through a National Science Foundation program, designed a mathematics
project where students and parents would keep track of the miles walked
to get a first-hand idea of the vast distance of 1,700 miles. Her pupils
also conduct experiments with the online help of the International Trans
Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE) (www.ume.maine.edu/itase) that
is studying this continent’s weather and environment.
In addition, Trummel’s students gain information on geography, mapping
tools, history and science by following the exploits of the Australian
National Antarctic Research Expeditions. ANARE has had seagoing vessels
in this area for over 50 years. "The children are fascinated with the
history of the Artic and Antartica explorers," explains Trummel. "At the
same time, they are in touch with what is happening right this moment.
History is happening right before their eyes. By contacting individuals
like Liv and Ann while traveling, the students literally become a part
of history being made."
Students at Kennedy High in the Bronx, who have already studied Leonardo
Da Vinci for their award-winning website Why is Mona Lisa Smiling
/13681) compared Arnesen and Bancroft’s
journal to the artist’s. "These women explorers made a major impact on
our students," states Steve Feld, who teaches computer graphics in the
Fine Arts Department. "I wish our kids had more heroes like them. Over
the months, the students, Liv and Ann became more than virtual contacts.
They became friends, making a strong bridge across this digital divide.
As more schools go online and technology gets increasingly
sophisticated, students will have many additional opportunities to
explore the world around them. Through present websites, they can visit
the ocean depths and our solar system, so who knows where they will
virtually venture next.