An experiment in distance learning

03/15/2015

MIDDLEPORT — On a recent Wednesday morning at Royalton-Hartland High School, eight seniors sat scattered around a classroom usually used for teaching social studies, each with their own school-issued laptop. 

Within several minutes of the class beginning, the students started to connect with a class at Barker High School over a program on their computers that allows them to see and speak to each other. Seconds later, the room was buzzing as the students discussed an upcoming project that was due. 

It’s not a traditional high school class, and that’s by design. The students, along with their peers in Barker, are taking Introduction to Sociology through Niagara University, a course with which they will earn three college credits when it ends in June. It’s a blended class, which means it involves internet work, virtual face time and physical face time with their professor at Niagara University.

The idea, Superintendent Roger J. Klatt said, is to prepare the students for the type of class they’ll likely see in college.

“They’ll learn how to manage time and focus,” he said. “It’s very different than what they’ve experienced before.”

Despite some technological bugs to work out, the students seem to have embraced the class, which began in early February.

“It’s definitely an adventure,” said Madison Dent, 17. “I like the class.”

While the students are learning how to manage a blended course, the subject matter is also at a college level. Topics range from media literacy to racial issues to gender issues. 

“It’s an opportunity to learn about real-world stuff and talk to your classmates about it,” said Hannah Rausche, 18.

The class is taught by Niagara University Adjunct Professor Dina Martin, who is also an assistant director of admissions at the school. Martin said the opportunity to teach the class was “exciting.”

“I love it,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a different way to teach. I was overjoyed to be able to participate.”

While the class is designed to mirror a college semester, some modifications had to be made to make the syllabus fit for high school students, Martin said. 

“I had to change the model to high school, and that took some doing,” she said. 

Martin said the students have been engaged in the classwork and seem to have a grasp on the subject matter. Students recently learned about how models used in advertising are often photoshopped to look perfect. 

“I like to open students’ minds to things they didn’t know before,” she said. 

Two history teachers facilitate the class, Scott Hughes at Roy-Hart and Tim Daley at Barker. Hughes said he has high expectations for the students, who all happen to be female. The students in the class at Barker are all female as well.

“I don’t want these girls to drop the ball,” Hughes said. 

The students from Roy-Hart and Barker have met once, when they took a bus together to Niagara University to meet Martin and tour the campus at the beginning of March.

They were also able to meet the author of the book they use for the class, Associate Professor Todd Schoepflin, and engage him in a question and answer session. The book, titled “Stories in Sociology,” prompted a thorough discussion, Murphy said. Several students in the class wished they had more time with Schoepflin.

“I thought it was really great that they were able to meet the author,” Martin said of the visit, noting that she couldn’t wait to meet the students after reading their work for several weeks.

The class is a pilot program, and administrators are hopeful it proves successful and can be implemented next year, Klatt said. Several schools in the Southern Tier offer similar programs, he said, but this is the only partnership of its kind in Niagara County, bringing three institutions together. 

“We’re excited and we hope it’s successful,” he said. “We want to build on it and improve it.”

Niagara University’s Nustep program, which works with area high schools to prepare students for the rigors of college, made the class possible. Other college-level classes are offered at Roy-Hart, but this is the first taught by a Niagara University professor, according to Sheila T. Murphy, assistant superintendent for instructional services.

Students paid a $215 registration fee, unless they are eligible for free or reduced lunch, in which case they paid a $15 registration fee, Murphy said.

By Michael Canfield

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