SIX-SCHOOL CONSORTIUM GEARS UP FOR VIDEO CLASSES

BENTON -- Shared learning experiences will cross county lines this fall when students in six school districts enroll in interactive video classes.

Teachers and school administrators involved in the Scott-Miss ITV Consortium will complete training exercises today in preparation for their first interactive classes this fall. Special cameras and television monitors were purchased with a $210,000 state grant received in 1997 to implement two-way interactive television classrooms at Charleston, Delta, East Prairie, Chaffee, Oran and Kelly high schools.

Administrators worked throughout the past school year to order and install the equipment and telephone lines needed. Classrooms have been prepared, and school calendars and class schedules have been matched as closely as possible so students are available for classes at approximately the same times.

"We've got that pretty well together by now," said Charleston High School principal Joe Forrest. "The only differences may be in the class change time or the odd length of the school day."

The interactive courses will be offered only to high school juniors and seniors who have signed participation contracts, said Retha Paul, grant coordinator for the consortium. Students will attend advanced classes such as physics, college English and trigonometry, advanced placement English and accounting II, which are taught by a teacher from a consortium school.

Paul said the classes will need minimal supervision but do require a dynamic classroom teacher. "The schools have tried to find what classes are needed and the best of the best teachers to lead them," she said. "You can't be a bad teacher and expect this to make you good."

Paul said she doubts discipline will be a problem in the classes. There will be no more than 25 students in any class, and teachers will be able to record individual classrooms without alerting students, she said.

Proctors may be necessary to monitor students during tests, but each principal's office has been equipped with monitors for observation, she said.

"You want to always expect the best, but you don't want to provide the opportunity for students to do less than that," said Paul.

This will be a pilot year for the consortium, but a $30,000 continuation grant already has been received to cover some on-going costs for the classroom. Paul said the consortium hopes to expand course offerings in the future.

"We hope the classroom will be in effect from now on," she said. "The grant was written to benefit our students by sharing high school classes and teachers, but we hope to bring the university in in the future as well."