TRECC Connects Pupils with WCIA 'Whys Guy'
released 05.17.05
Contact
Trish Barker
NCSA Public Information Specialist
tlbarker@ncsa.uiuc.edu
217.265.8013
CHAMPAIGN, IL —
Fourth- and fifth-grade pupils from two Champaign elementary schools, Kenwood and Dr. Howard, will experience physics experiments conducted by University of Illinois Professor Mats Selen, the 'Whys Guy' who appears every Wednesday on the WCIA Channel 3 morning show, thanks to videoconferencing technology provided by the University's Technology Research, Education and Commercialization Center (TRECC).
At 9:30 a.m. on May 24, Selen will conduct a physics demonstration at Loomis Lab on the University of Illinois campus. Pupils at Kenwood and Dr. Howard schools will be connected via videoconferencing.
Susan Sheahan, enrichment specialist at Kenwood Elementary, and Debi Stapleton a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at Dr. Howard, agreed that videoconferencing opens up valuable educational opportunities for students.
According to Nancy Komlanc, director of education and training for TRECC, the videoconferencing system is available to all educators in Illinois. Since last year TRECC has given more than 125 Webcams to K-12 teachers and administrators throughout the state. The giveaway is meant to advance educators' technical capabilities, and the Webcams allow for easy, free videoconferencing.
The Webcam giveaway is tied to TRECC's Educators' Knowledge Center, a free, integrated set of online tools for sharing information and resources. Among other things, educators can swap lesson plans, textbook reviews, and ideas for interactive activities. They can collaborate on proposals and projects via a text chat service. They can also videoconference with colleagues in other buildings or other districts, using software and services provided by the Knowledge Center.
TRECC is a program of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, funded by the Office of Naval Research, and administered by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
