The Electronic Academical Village

Glen Bull, Judi Harris, and John Lloyd
Curry School of Education
University of Virginia

Thomas Jefferson conceived of the University of Virginia as an
"academical village". The homes of professors alternated with
student rooms in two rows facing a central lawn. Classes were
held on the first floor of each instructor's home. The
architectural arrangement was intended to create an academic
community. The result was so successful that the American
Institute of Architects has ranked Jefferson's design among the
nation's top ten architectural achievements.

In Jefferson's academical village, geographic proximity led to
academic interaction. Jefferson went so far as to import cooks
of different nationalities -- Italian, French, Spanish -- for
the dining halls. Jefferson was an innovator of considerable
note. Many of his designs, such as the dumbwaiter at Monticello,
have operated for over 100 years without replacement or repair.
With this background of invention, Jefferson might have been
intrigued by the thought of bringing learners together
electronically as an alternative to moving them to a common
geographic location.

An "electronic academical village" is under development in the
Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. The
need is particularly acute for a school of education, because
the necessity of working in the public schools means that
students in the Curry School are geographically scattered as
they perform their teaching internships.

The logistical considerations posed by coordination of the
student teaching process could give pause to an army. The
problem is the same in each case -- communications. For
example, suppose that a student teacher needs to consult her
faculty advisor at the university. She may call her advisor
during her lunch break -- but, of course, the professor is in a
meeting or teaching class. The faculty advisor calls back later
that afternoon, but now the student teacher is in class. With
skilled players, this type of "telephone tag" may continue for
days.

In 1987 Teacher-LINK became the first component of a network
designed to address this problem. Teacher-LINK is a joint study
between IBM and the Curry School. By January, 1989, fifty
classrooms in the local school system will have links to this
network. The Centel phone company provided a contribution to
partially defray the cost of installing phone lines. The
remaining costs have been absorbed by the school systems. A
laptop computer and modem in each classroom are used to access
the network via the phone line. This permits teachers in the
classroom to readily interact with each other and with faculty
at the university via an electronic mail system. (Teacher-LINK
is using several different networks and systems including
BITNET, Confer II, and CAUCUS.)

Enhancing the Teaching Internship
---------------------------------

Students on the network can use the system for many
applications. They can share a lesson plan with an advisor,
obtain support from peers during a stressful period, and share
ideas with one another. Students receive an electronic mail ID
when they first enter the Curry School and retain it until
graduation. During this time, it will be used for informal
conversations, formal research applications, and as a
communications link during field teaching experiences.

For example, in the math education program, the network is used
to respond to questions about teaching ideas, requests for
teaching suggestions, and questions about content to be taught.
The director of this program, Joe Garofalo, observes:

"Because I have different students, in different schools,
teaching at different times, it is not easy to set up an
efficient observation schedule by using the telephone. The
electronic mail system has made the task of scheduling very
easy. ... I can coordinate all my observations and also
schedule around tests and quizzes, school assemblies, and
other non-instructional sessions."

It is rumored that in this program the network is also used as a
vehicle for bad puns and terrible jokes.


Teacher-to-Teacher Communications
-------------------------

Teachers are also using the network in many ways, ranging from
professional interactions to administrative applications. By
next year, it will be possible to access the University library
system through the network. Teachers are also using the network
to stay in touch with one another. For example, the heads of
the science departments at Albemarle High School and Western
Albemarle High School are able to use electronic mail to
interact. One teacher described some of the uses of the network
in this way:

"I think that electronic mail is quite valuable. Just
yesterday I contacted a biology professor at the University
of Virginia with a question and I already have the reply.
I'm sure that I would not have been able to reach him by
phone. I contact my supervisor at the central office at
least once a week through e-mail. That is very convenient
since she is frequently out of her office. We sometimes
send e-mail messages within the department when a day is
hectic and we don't have a chance to talk to one another."

Classroom Applications
---------------------

Teacher-LINK, instituted to enhance the teaching internship, is
only one element of a larger vision. Once a link has been
extended between the classroom and the university network, many
other facilities can be accessed. The university network is
linked to other networks across the nation. A network known as
BITNET stretches across the United States, and has links to other
networks in foreign countries.

The original Teacher-LINK project has served as the platform for
establishment of a more comprehensive academical network. The
projects listed below are illustrative of the educational impact
of a widespread electronic network.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Virginia Prototype Science Network, Chap Percival

A classroom in the Hanover school system has been linked to
the BITNET network via a node at Virginia Commonwealth
University. BITNET nodes at Virginia Commonwealth
University and the University of Virginia allow classrooms
in Richmond and Charlottesville to communicate with one
another. The pilot test was so successful that the Hanover
school system is now going to link all ten of its elementary
schools to the network.

National Geographic Kids Network, Gerry Burnett

As a result of experimental use of education networks, an
invitation was extended to participate in the pilot of the
National Geographic Kids Network project. Two hundred
classes in this country and abroad used a common network to
participate in a joint study of acid rain. Students
transmitted data collected to a central site via the
network. The sixth-grade class of Gerry Burnett at Broadus-
Wood school participated in this pilot in April 1988, and is
now engaged in beta testing of future experiments developed
at the Technical Education Research Centers (TERC).

SCIENCE

StarNet Center, Ertle Thompson

The StarNet Project extends the NGS Kids Network to the high
school level. The Curry School of Education will serve as
one of ten StarNet Centers. A description by Bob Tinker,
president of TERC, outlines the intent of the project:

"An approach we have termed microcomputer-based
laboratories, or MBL, uses the microcomputer, equipped with
a small array of transducers and general-purpose software,
as a universal instrument performing the functions of
storage-tube oscilloscope, counter-timer, frequency
analyzer, and other devices. Easy-to-use software makes
these functions readily available to the student. The
computer is also a universal tool for analyzing, comparing,
storing and graphing data, as well as generating models and
exploring theories. Telecommunications can bring students
together to cooperate in conducting projects and setting up
data collection networks that are much more complex and
sophisticated than any one student could handle alone.
Thus, MBL increases student capabilities and productivity
while reducing costs, and telecommunications technology
fosters collaboration and reduces the demand on each
teacher."

Operation Frog, Richard Strauss and Jean Foss

At one time, dissection of a frog was a standard component
of high school biology classes. For a variety of reasons,
this is no longer the case. Richard Strauss, a doctoral
student in the Curry School, and Jean Foss, a biology
teacher at Western Albemarle High School, are collaborating
on development of a replacement exercise which combines
videodisc and computer technologies.

Jean Foss describes the project in this way:

"This interactive videodisc deals with dissection of a
pithed frog. This topic is of great educational value to
students of the life sciences. It is, unfortunately, one
which I no longer offer to my students due to the use of
live frogs. Successful completion of this project would
provide me with an acceptable means of offering this
learning experience to my students. The planned interactive
nature of this lesson will make it much more useful than
other learning materials on frogs which are currently
available."

The network is being used as the medium for interaction on
this project, and makes a joint collaboration possible.
Programming code developed by one author can be sent to the
other in seconds over the network.

ENGLISH

Novel Communications, Pat Crook and Judi Harris

In this project, Curry School professors have adopted the
persona of characters from different novels. Classes
reading these novels are able to use the network to interact
with characters from the book. This interaction adds to the
reality of the character and leads to a more comprehensive
exploration of the novel.

Writing with a Purpose, Gerry Kruger and Betsi Lohr

During Spring 1988, a ninth-grade basic English class agreed
to "help" a third-grade class by corresponding with them
over the mail system. The third-grade class was delighted
with the attention from high school students. The ninth-
graders found writing meaningful and purposeful, because of
the genuine communication which was occurring.

SOCIAL STUDIES

A Different Point of View, Jeanette Wells

During Spring 1988, BITNET was being used to link a sixth-
grade class in Charlottesville, Virginia with a class of
native Alaskan children. During the semester the two
classes exchanged scientific data and sociologic
information. A field trip to Alaska is not feasible, but an
on-going electronic conversation produces many of the same
benefits. In a similar project, in Fall 1988, a classroom
in central Ohio will be linked with classes in
Charlottesville.

Messages from Monticello, Jennings Wagoner

In another project, a professor at the University of
Virginia emulates historical individuals such as Thomas
Jefferson via the network. Children have the opportunity to
ask questions on the electronic mail system, and receive
answers in the style that Jefferson might have used.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Special-Talk, Glen Bull and Paula Cochran

In 1986, an initial group of twenty special educators and
clinicians in communication disorders met in
Charlottesville, Virginia to establish an electronic
conference. The Special-Talk conference, devoted to
discussion of technology in special education, was
established on the CONFER electronic conferencing system.
(CONFER is a system which resides on a mainframe computer at
the University of Michigan.) The original electronic
conference has now grown to more than 100 clinicians and
special educators. The Educational Technology committee of
the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association now uses
the conferencing system as the official vehicle for
conducting business, as does the board of directors of
Computer Users in Speech and Hearing (CUSH).

Kid-LINK, Sue Anderson

CAUCUS, has been used for several projects such as Kid-
LINK. Kid-LINK is a project initiated by Sue Anderson which
links hearing-impaired students with non-impaired classes.
Electronic networks provide an ideal medium for development
of language skills by hearing impaired students.

The idea underlying the +ACI-electronic academical village+ACI- is a
straightforward one: it is no longer necessary to be in a common
geographic location in order to exchange ideas. A class in
Virginia can interact with classes in Maine or California or
Australia. Teachers who might otherwise be isolated can interact
with other teachers with similar interests.

Currently about half the faculty in the Curry School of Education
have a computer on their desk that is linked to the network.
Pilot trials have been so successful that every faculty office
and every departmental office is now being linked to the network
via a high-speed Ethernet connection. Students at the University
of Virginia receive accounts on the electronic network when they
enter the Curry School of Education. These accounts are retained
until the year after graduation. Students on the network can
communicate with their classmates, their professors, with
professors at other schools of education, and classroom teachers.
By graduation, they will use the network as fluently as the
blackboard -- and become the first generation of teachers
trained to use an extended academic community as an instructional
resource.