.your homewark,’’ Electronic classrooms are here " Future promises individual learning “THAT LOOKS pretty good, Warren. You've been doing sayS a voice over a speaker phone. - The voice belongs to Gerry Paille, a teacher in Fort St. John. He’s talking to Warren Wilson from the Northcoast Distance Education School here, AS Paille speaks a cursor moves over a graph prepared by Wilson’ and sent electronically to Paille. It’s on a computer screen that’s been projected against a wall. The pair are demonstrating the future of schooling — teachers and students connected by com- puters and phone lines. ‘Where a student lives and where a teacher lives aren’t barricrs — a student in Atlin, for instance, will have the same access to education as one living in West Vancouver. The'system Wilson and Paille are ~ demonstrating is called New Direc- lions. in Distance Leaming (NDDL), a venture of distance edu- cation schools (once called cor- -respondence schools), the Open Leaming Agency, the education ministry and school districts. In essence, the system provides for an electronic classroom where a students from all over the province at one time are connected with a teacher. ‘Computer software gives students - and. teachers the ability to write comments and change information just as if the group was huddied in front of a blackboard. There are now 300 students in the system which is in its fourth year. The goal for this fall, says Wil- son, is io have 1,000 students regis- tered in nearly 30 Grade 10 to Grade 12 courses. “This is responsive to individual ‘student needs, to students at home and to adult studenis,’’ nates Wil- this Saturday. The meetings began late last year, when mem- ‘bers of the. Kitimat-Stikine Regional District ‘and Terrace city council decided something had to be done about poor service and skyrocketing fares here, After the first meeting, reps from both Air BC “Lap Doty Right... 7" ape The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 2, 1997 - AJ WARREN WILSON demonstrates the future of distance education with a teacher connacted to his termi- nal here from Fort St. John. Distance could cease to be a barrier to learning in the future, he says. son. “Tt works for students in small schools where there is no teacher on hand for specialized subjects or for schools where there are too few students to offer a course.” It even works for students in large schaols who may hot be able to take a course because of timetable difficulties, Wilson adds, In the northwest, the system is of- fered in Prince Rupert and in Stewart. It’s not yet in place in Terrace but Caledonia officials and other edu- cation specialists did attend a brief- ing several weeks ago. Having a student registered with the system now depends upon reaching agreement with a school but that could change as the years than a token gesture. about it.”’ and Canadian airlines agreed to examine their northwestern routes. They will reveal their con- clusions April 5 and regional district chair Joanne Monaghan says their visit will be more “Y don’t think they’d bother coming back if they didn’t have something constructive to say,’ Monaghan says. “I’m very optimistic Monaghan says two possible changes are im- ago on, says Wilson. **Eventually there will be no bor- ders,’’ he said. ‘it works for students in small schools where there is no teacher on hand for specialized sub- jects or for schools where there are too few students to offer a course.” What's happening, Wilson con- tinues, is the construction of an “open’’ school following along the lines of open colleges and univer- sities that can serve students any- where, Wilson prefers the NDDL ap- proach over other distance educa- tion methods such as paper-only correspondence courses or courses offered via electronic mail. Having students connected to a teacher provides immediate as- sistance and structure to leaming. “Individual leaming depends very much on the motivation of a student,”’ Wilson said. The kind of computer equipment and software needed to participate is much the same that more and more households are getting to con- fect to the World Wide Web. Courses cost $500, twice that of a normal correspondence course. Airlines to address ticket pricing pleas THE SECOND of two meetings between air- line representatives and a Terrace committee keen on improving air service here takes place proved service for medically required flights and direct flights to Vancouver. At the last meeting, the airlines told the com- mittee that the short hop between Terrace and Rupert was a big moncy-loser. Monaghan says if the airlines drop that flight and My to Van- couver direct, ticket prices could drop ‘by as much as $200. The meeting will be held Saturday at the 7 | oa © Built In Security GENS WE’RE STILL THE © Quality You Con Depend Qn Engineered For Safely © Every Lift Master lights your way PULSE 4904 Hwy, 16 West Smithers Terrace, B.C. Prince Rupert Automotive Fuel, Conversion & Service Centre “SPRING” Forward Into “Savings” Convert Your Vehicle To... Natural G Now ! !. 100% FINANCING 2 : Available upon Qualification QiiRivnses LOWEST - 28.5¢ PER SEE YOU AT THE TRADES FAIR’S IN | apn MEMBER CANADIAN AS whe Name of Volunteer: Volunteers of the Year Nomination Form The Terrace Standard and Overwaitea host the 3rd Annual Volunteer of the Year contest. If you know someone who's helped make Terrace a better place, tell the town! 2s News In Brief Shames decision soon SHAMES MOUNTAIN ski hill representatives will meet with the regional district board next month to dis- cuss the possibility of forgiving the mountain's debt to the district. The ski hill owes about $450,000 for chair lifts and other equipment purchased from the RD when the Kit- sumkalum ski area was dismantled in the fall of 1986, “It?s been 10 years,’ says Thombill director Les Waltmough, ‘It’s time this was settled.” The meeting will take place at the next board mect- ing, April 25, Roadchecks net drivers VEHICLE INSPECTORS and Terrace RCMP were out in Full force looking for unsafe vehicles two weekends ago. And they found plenty — resulting in some 26 charges being laid. The roadchecks were held March 22 and 23 in Ter- race and Thomhill. The cops focussed on insecure Joads enroule to the dumps, unsafe vehicles and tailes. Four people were charged with driving without insur- ance, two for not wearing seatbelts, six for insecure loads, four for driving defective vehicles, two for not having a driver’s licence and one for being overweight. Seven miscellaneous charges were also laid and 21 warnings were issued. Eight cars were found to be so dangerously defective | they were removed from the road immediately. A fur-— ther cight owners have been given 30 days to bring their vehicles up to roadworthy condition. The police say they are planning to hold several more roadchecks during the spring. City goes on the web INTERNET SURFERS will soon be able to find the City of Terrace on the World Wide Web. City officials are working on a web site that will be up and running later this month. “We plan to put on council agendas,’”’ says city ¢co- nomic development officer Ken Veldman. ‘‘There will be some form of archiving council minutes. You'll also be able to e-mail any of the councillors or mayor.” In addition to local interest information the site will ‘also market the city to Internet surfers from far away. A communily profile with information on the econo- my, local services, business and industry will be geared to potential developers and workers thinking of relocal- ing or building bere, There will also be a section aimed at tourists planning trips to the area. Veldman said the budget for the project is a ‘‘couple of thousand dollars’, adding design is being handled by local design firm Web North Marketing, The web page will be put up by local service provider OSG In- ternclive, Beware of funny money POLICE ARE asking businesses along the Highway 16 corridor to keep an eye out for a man trying to pass off photocopies of money for the real thing. .. ROMP in Vanderhoof say a man about 579”? tll and weighing some 200 Ibs recently tried to pass off a coloured copy of a $100 bill there. The man may be driving a dark-coloured Jeep with Yukon licence plates. Phone numbers volunteer can be reached at: Organization(s) volunteer is active in, and number of years in each: Nominated by: ‘Your Telephone: Volunteer's profile. Please provide a brief history on the nominee. How long have they been active in organizations in Terrace? How have they helped make Terrace a better place? 635-6617 632-4444 847-9172 624-6400 LITRE PRINCE RUPERT APRILIT, 12.& 13 SMITHERS APRIL 18, 19 & 20 TERRACE APRIL 25, 26 & 27 Mention this ad and receive a $100 discount for 5. ANY CONVERSION DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL __—_ a a—_—_— ANDARD. Who’s eligible: Anyone who does unpaid volunteer work, Membership in a group or society is not mandatory. Nominees from past years can be entered again. Drop off form at Overwaitea, Skeena Mall, or The Terrace Standard office, fax to 638-8432, or mall to 3210 Clinton Street, Terrace, B.C., V8G 5R2 DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS FRIDAY, APRIL 4/97 Winners will be determined by a panel of three judges and will be announced in April. 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