Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 30/01) - A new Internet program teaching Northern studies is proving to work a lot better than an online experiment attempted last year.
Last year the territorial government put its Northern studies course, mandatory throughout NWT schools, on a learning network operated by Calgary's public school board.
The course was available in cyberspace last year, but it didn't have many features and wasn't part of the innovative network that puts all the Calgary board's courses online. It was like reading a textbook on a computer screen. That setup was considered a failure until teacher Ray Lake was hired by the department of education. Starting from scratch last year, Lake designed a Web site that is attractive, easy to use and full of photos and two-way interaction.
And it is "amazingly cheap," says Lake, noting it costs NWT school boards $100 per student using it. The fee goes to the Calgary board. School isn't for everyone, and Lake says students can use the new system if they've been expelled, "have trouble in a classroom setting" or are adults working full-time. Fourteen students are taking the course so far.
"It's the only course that makes kids learn about the North," he said.
For now it's only available to NWT students, but there are hopes some day that anyone anywhere can study the North online, as taught by Northerners. NWT residents can also now take any of the 40 courses offered by the Calgary board over the Internet. Current limits on the band width, or amount of Internet space available, prevent the Web site from offering video clips or live video-conferencing with teachers.
"That's going to take time. The fact of the matter is that's very expensive," Lake says.
Education, Culture and Employment Minister Jake Ootes says the computer technology "gives students in small community high schools access to a range of senior secondary courses that may otherwise not be available."
As for computers someday replacing teachers, Lake is confident that won't happen.
"A machine will never give you the personal interaction. The Web is a tool. It's just a program."
