Virtual Get-together via VideoconferencingTopic: Breaking Down Classroom WallsFriday, May 17, 2002
Abstract: The classroom of the future will allow students to become self-directed learners, working on their own or in small groups, exploring, mentoring and problem-solving with electronic tools. This environment recognizes multiple ways to learn and gives teachers the opportunity to bring authentic assessment applications into the classroom. It provides a special learning environment that gives coherence and spirit to learning. It encourages partnerships between school districts, communities, business and industry, universities and government to create a virtual environment to make learning more innovative, exciting and meaningful. Our hope is to present the Classroom of the Future at the 19th World Conference live from the floor of the convention. At Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, New Jersey, we have brought the resources of high-speed data networking (Gigabit backbone), the Internet, radio, television, voice-mail, video teleconferencing and e-mail together to overcome time and space barriers. We provide resources that permit our students and teachers to break down the traditional classroom walls and open a universe of learning. Our on-line Internet magazine has been featured in publications around the world and presents our students' work along with the work of students' from many states and countries to a world-wide audience. We employ video-conferencing strategies that permit collaborative works between our students, and students in China, Korea, and all over the world. They connect with university mentors, as well as schools throughout our nation. In the Classroom of the Future, learning takes place 24 hours-a-day; students direct their own learning when and where they need to learn. Resources include parents, community members and on-line experts who mentor the learners when the traditional school day ends. There is no longer a single evaluator of student performance in a classroom - the world becomes the classroom. To deny any student the opportunity to sit in the Classroom of the Future is to deny them to the world around us. About the Presenter: Dr. Pare is the Director of Information Systems for Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, New Jersey. This district has won many state and national awards for technology, including recognition from the McGraw Hill Company, Business Week Magazine and Redbook Magazines. He holds a BS in Biology and holds both an M.Ed. and Ed.D. in Science Education. He is a frequent speaker at state and national technology conventions and conferences. In 2000 he was a featured speaker at IT 2000 in Beijing China. He served as the Chairman of the Definitions Committee of the Ad Hoc Committee on Technology for the State of New Jersey. Dr. Pare has won four consecutive Best Practices in Technology Awards from the NJ Department of Education. In 1999, he was named Technologist of the Year by the NJ Association of Educational Technologist. His work on the "Cyberspace Regionalization Project" was recognized by the Smithsonian Institute. Dr. Pare has taught graduate level courses in computers and technology for Trenton State College, Temple and Lehigh Universities. He currently teaches in the Kean University Graduate School. Global Knowledge Exchange has named him as a member of their Technology Architect Group. He may be reached at Ron@RRP-Consulting.com.
To schedule your campus for this event, please contact your campus CAPE Operations Committee Representative who can Register Online for your site to participate. CAPE contact person: Deb Degenhart at degenhartd@acape.org.
|