Telepresence Rescues Mandarin Chinese Courses at Connecticut Schools

In some ways, what the public schools in Ridgefield, Connecticut are doing with telepresence is nothing new.

 

As written by Macklin Reid of The Ridgefield Press – one of the weekly community newspapers that are quickly replacing daily journals in all but large cities – telepresence in a classroom can save money in teachers’ wages as well as travel expenses.

 

But in the case of this southeastern Connecticut town, the newspaper reports, it’s also affecting course curriculum.

 

A three-year-old Mandarin Chinese program – a course that’s gained traction in nonprofit organizations such as the fast-growing Chinese Language School of Connecticut – was squeezed out of sixth-grade offerings in Ridgefield because not enough fifth-graders had signed up at Scotts Ridge or East Ridge middle schools.

 

But by installing telepresence systems in both schools, the 20 combined students can be taught together in a single classroom.

 

“I think this is great out-of-the-box thinking,” board member Richard Steinhart reportedly said earlier this week. “I think it opens up a lot of outside possibilities beyond Mandarin.”

Those possibilities may include virtual museum visits, video college courses, and collaborative projects with schools around the world, according to the newspaper.

 

In a proposal put together by Technology Director Josh Smith at the request of Superintendent Deborah Low, school officials say, “The technology has the potential to help not only this current sixth grade cohort of students but also future students enrolled in world language classes with low enrollment. In addition the technology has the potential for other uses such as ‘virtual’ student exchanges and field trips. Also, if installed at the high school in the future, a telepresence classroom could help with accelerated middle school math students who are ready for high school courses.”

 

They’re innovative uses for a technology that experts from the corporate world long have said saves time, money, hassle and the environment.

 

Leaders from a Toronto-based telecom equipment maker Nortel (News - Alert) say telepresence is finding its way into more and more board rooms.

 

“Companies are thinking: How can I operate at a higher comp level by bringing down my costs?” Jerry Boezel, vice president of channel strategy and marketing for Nortel’s global services group, told TMCnet during an interview. “But it’s not just a matter of not needing to fly and drive people around. By taking a lot of legacy out of the process, you’re talking about improving communications.”

 

The Ridgefield schools’ use also isn’t the first time that telepresence has been used in an innovative way to benefit children.

 

One Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based conferencing provider, Video Guidance Inc., today is receiving wide praise for how its services are being used by children’s advocates now connecting a network of agencies that investigate child abuse cases and assist victims.

 

According to Kim Martinez, outreach coordinator of the Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, Video Guidance has helped bring the agency to rural areas through its high-definition conferencing system, bringing peer support and professional development services to places that otherwise likely wouldn’t get them.

 

“They’ve provided comprehensive video conferencing applications of the newest technologies to help our multidisciplinary teams and professionals respond to allegations of child abuse,” Martinez said.

 

According to national organizations that deal with the problem, child abuse is a common and often unreported phenomenon.

 

According to the latest figures from Childhelp, a nonprofit organization, during fiscal year 2006, an estimated 3.6 million referrals, involving about 6 million children, were made to child protection agencies. The national rate was 48 referrals per 1,000 children, a four-point increase from the previous year, the agency says.

 

Meanwhile, in the Ridgefield schools, Smith is citing more than 20 examples of educational experience that would be available when the telepresence classrooms were set up, including: a school in Hong Kong looking for partner schools to have video-conferences with; a virtual tour of the National World War II Museum’s D-day exhibit; a first-year Mandarin Chinese class looking for other schools with Mandarin students to talk with; an “ask the space expert” video-conference with a planetarium; a program allowing students to watch live open heart surgery.