11/16/2006

Suttons Bay students visit the Smithsonian — via TV

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
Suttons Bay fifth-graders raise their hands to ask questions during their virtual field trip to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. An interactive machine with a voice-sensitive camera atop the television in their classroom linked them to a museum expert.

SUTTONS BAY — Lynn Hansen couldn't take her fifth-grade class from Suttons Bay to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, but a new teaching tool brought the museum to them.

Students gathered at Suttons Bay Public Schools on Wednesday for a "virtual field trip” about American Indians and art. A large television outfitted with a voice-sensitive camera let them interact with a Smithsonian guide stationed in Washington, D.C. Students from Grand Traverse Academy joined in from Traverse City.

The Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District provided local districts with video conferencing technology that allows teachers to tap educational resources nationwide.

Shane Francis, 10, joined his class in answering questions about how American Indians used meat, fur and bones from buffalo. They just finished studying the topic.

"It was really, really cool,” Shane said. "You can see all the other schools and see people when they're somewhere else.”

Their guide at the Smithsonian started her presentation with paintings by George Catlin, an American artist who specialized in portraits of American Indians. She later featured pieces created by American Indians, including baskets and Navajo weaving.

Record-Eagle/Douglas Tesner
A view of the television hook-up from behind the students.

Hansen said the hourlong presentation — one of the Smithsonian's many offerings — was a natural fit because her social studies lessons examine different cultural perspectives. About 19 percent of students in Suttons Bay Public Schools are American Indian.

The Suttons Bay students tuned in to another virtual trip earlier this school year, studying with a scientist at a zoo in St. Louis. The next virtual program on Hansen's wish list is a tour of colonial Williamsburg, Va.

Karen Shoskey, the TBAISD's regional educational media centers coordinator, said portable technology makes it easier for teachers to access virtual trips. The equipment can be used anywhere there is an Internet connection.

"They can roll that right into the classroom,” she said. "They can have a conversation back and forth. The possibilities are endless.”

Shoskey said many organizations provide programs at no cost to schools. Most topics also are aligned with Michigan curriculum standards.

"So they're very pertinent to what's going on in the classroom,” she said.