Maria Canton
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Dec 06/99) - Imaginations reached for the moon last week as students came up with ideas for the types of robots they would like. Robots to do homework, robots to make beds, do dishes, shovel snow.

As part of a national pilot project, the Canadian Space Agency held a teleconference class in Iqaluit last week. Twenty-five Joamie and Nakasuk school students communicated via satellite with an engineer specializing in robotics.

Elizabeth Tumblin, a Grade 4-5 teacher at Joamie school, said the electronic classroom setting is ideal for providing students in remote locations with access to highly- specialized technological information.

"The use of technology is always a motivating force in class and anything to do with space is extremely motivating," said Tumblin.

"The students are very keen on learning about space and robots."

Two over-sized TVs were set up in a boardroom in the NorthwesTel building that broadcast live transmissions via satellite from Montreal to Iqaluit.

The students spoke to engineer Lindsey Evans and Marilyn Steinberg, manager of youth outreach for the Canadian Space Agency.

"This was the first time we ran the program and we chose to run it in the North because of the greater challenges in using technology. We are very pleased with the results of last week's class," said Steinberg.

Grade 5 student Bryan Kovic, 10, says he's very interested in learning about space and robots.

"I want to learn about what they eat in space and about the different airs and gases like helium and hydrogen," said Kovic.

Similarly, Wally Picco, 10, said he liked the idea of talking to experts who wouldn't normally be accessible to the class.

"We can met people we've never seen before and learn something about robots. I'm interested in the robotic arm and sometimes I use a telescope to look at the stars."

As the first step in a space exploration unit, the 25 students will become the "resident experts" in their classes.

The information they learned on robotics will be put onto a database and later collaborated with Hay River, NWT, on a computer database project.