November 2005 — Features
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Creating a Global Classroom
A NASA videoconferencing program knocks down traditional educational boundaries, drawing together teachers, students, and field experts in a single virtual setting for the benefit of all.
THEY MAY NOT HAVE known it, but in January 2004, when students from Oxon Hill Middle School in Oxon Hill, MD, met face-to-face with students at Princess Anne Middle School, in Virginia Beach, VA, without either group ever stepping outside of their own classroom door, new ground was crossed in the continuing passage into 21st century education.
The meeting was conducted via NASA LIVE (Learning through Interactive Videoconferencing Experiences; http://live.larc.nasa.gov), a free series of videoconferencing programs produced by NASA’s Langley Center for Distance Learning in Hampton, VA (http://dlcenter.larc.nasa.gov). NASA LIVE is designed for K-12 educators and students, allowing teachers and students to interact with NASA experts in a virtual setting as they engage in a variety of topics and hands-on activities connecting science-, technology-, engineering-, and mathematics (STEM)- related content to NASA research and careers.
The two sets of middle school students were participating in the first joint NASA Connect/NASA LIVE event, “The Nutrition and Exercise Challenge.” [Ed. note: The “Challenge” was a collaborative project led by program moderators Chris Giersch, NASA Connect program manager, and Katrina Townes-Young, NASA LIVE program manager.] Accepting the challenge presented by the NASA Connect program, titled “Better Health From Space to Earth,” students worked in groups to develop daily meal and exercise plans for individuals with special needs.
NASA LIVE offers 30- to 60-minute videoconferences among its researchers and students throughout North America and beyond. Each videoconference incorporates a variety of multimedia and hands-on activities that enrich classroom instruction. Teachers and students participating in a NASA LIVE event have the opportunity to establish real-world connections with experts in STEM areas as they interact with and learn from the researchers who play an important role in aeronautics and space exploration (such as the Return to Flight, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Hyper X-43A, geospatial technologies, and weather and satellite tracking). Past participants connecting to NASA experts have represented various geographical areas including Hong Kong, London, New Mexico, New York, New Zealand, Norway, Puerto Rico, Texas, and a host of other locations.
Extending the Classroom
The NASA LIVE program points up the capability of videoconferencing
to carry student learning beyond traditional,
desk-bound methods. For centuries, teachers and students
knew their places in the classroom: teacher at the fore, students
at their desks, facing forward. Lecturing was all anyone
knew, or was capable of, since the instructor was the
only one with a copy of the book in use.
