Bill McCloud and Elizabeth Rose, Appalachian State University

In 1989 the North Carolina public schools were ranked 50th in the United States on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Although this ranking may have been distorted due to 100% of NC high school seniors being administered the SAT, this alarming statistic forced educators at all levels to consider a restructuring of NC public schools. One result of this restructuring process was a grant initiated by the College of Education at Appalachian State University which precipitated "Impact NC - 21st Century Education," a technology partnership between Appalachian State University (ASU), Watauga County public schools, Southern Bell Corporation, and AT&T Network Systems. A primary outcome of the partnership was the implementation of a distance-learning network which enabled voice, data, and video to be sent between ASU and local public schools. This was one of the first distance-learning systems capable of delivering interactive-video instruction through existing copper telephone lines, which are universally available. Other distance-learning systems depend on fiber-optic, microwave or satellite technology.

Southern Bell provided telephone networking and installations while AT&T provided design and engineering services, developed hardware/software, and donated equipment. Funding also afforded full-time positions for technology personnel at each site. Cost of the project has been estimated at one million dollars. At present, Appalachian State University and three public schools in Watauga County have the interactive equipment. Long-term goals include placement of distance-learning technology in adjacent rural county public schools.

The partnership's goals include using the technology to improve instruction and raise test scores of pupils in grades K-12, provide continuing education opportunities for teachers in rural counties, improve training and supervision of ASU student teachers/interns, and prepare North Carolinians to better compete in national and global economics.

In 1992 ASU School of Music began experimenting with the distance-learning technology because public school regulations limited observation of music classes by university methods students. The authors also began to develop a student teaching model based on the new technology. The purpose of this paper is to present a distance-learning model for music methods classes and student teaching supervision presently in place at Appalachian State University School of Music.

One component of the distance-learning project which has been particularly successful has been point-to-point interactive video conferencing between teachers/students in the public schools and instrumental, choral, and general music education methods students. Interactive-video conferencing enables methods students to observe public school music classes in real time with immediate follow-up. This often consists of an exchange between public schools teachers and university students/faculty regarding teaching strategies and classroom management techniques.

General music methods students, including music majors and elementary education majors, have several opportunities each semester to view K-5 general music classes. Each of the four Impact sites has a technology room where the interactive equipment is housed. The ASU technology room, "Impact Lab," contains two visual monitors and is large enough for 50-75 student observers. During interactive observations, methods students simultaneously view a public school music class on one screen and written materials relevant to the class on another screen (scores, lesson plans, etc.). There is a "mute" feature which eliminates audio data from the ASU site. This feature enables faculty and students to discuss their observations without distracting the public school music class.

After the classroom observation, students and faculty have opportunities to exchange questions with the public school music teacher and students. Typical questions often relate to classroom management and conceptual teaching sequences as well as questions for the participating children; for example, "What was your favorite part of the music class?" In addition to the question-answer session, ASU students complete an observation form which addresses primary/secondary musical concepts, lesson plans and sequencing, musical selections, classroom management techniques, and student responses/outcomes. One interactive observation with a question/answer session can occur during a traditional 50-minute class block, resulting in no "extra" classes or rescheduling for students or faculty. Technology personnel at each site assist faculty with hook-ups between sites, monitor equipment during interactive sessions, and train students/faculty in a variety of technologies housed in the ASU Impact Lab: music CD-ROM software, access to the Internet and World Wide Web.

Impact Labs in the public schools are not large enough to house entire choral/instrumental ensembles; therefore, choral and instrumental methods students are limited to observing small ensembles or individual students. For example, choral methods student have observed music teachers working with "uncertain" singers, and instrumental methods students and faculty have taught individual and small-group lessons to beginning band students. Although rehearsal techniques cannot be observed over interactive video, pedagogical aspects of working with young singers and instrumentalists can be addressed. As a result, choral/instrumental methods students have benefited from the interactive-video observations.

Interactive video-conferencing has provided ASU music methods students continual access to public schools without leaving the university site. Dialogue in the methods classes is based on real pedagogical problems as opposed to hypothetical teaching senarios; consequently, students see an immediate relevance of methods classes to their role as future music educators.

A student teaching supervision model based on Impact NC has also proven successful. Compared with more traditional models of student teaching supervision, the distance-learning model strengthens the student teaching supervision process in the following areas: (a) provides daily communication between university supervisors, classroom teachers, and student teachers, (b) enables on-going interaction between student teachers in the field and music methods students, and (c) allows daily interaction between peer music student teachers located at various Impact sites.

Through the use of electronic mail, university supervisors, classroom teachers, and student teachers can confidentially communicate on a daily basis. Immediate communication allows problems to be addressed when effective solutions are most valuable. The College of Education has created "notes conferencing" which allows student teachers to post and discuss teaching problems/successes on-line. Consequently, student teachers are no longer confined to their classroom teacher as a primary resource person, but have continual access to a wide range of solutions to address their specific needs. Dialogue from "notes conferencing" is accessed by music faculty and presented to methods classes, allowing students insight into "real-life" teaching problems and solutions. Pedagogical and classroom management solutions are often the result of these class discussions and can in turn be communicated back to the student teacher in the field.

Student teachers have also served as demonstration teachers for methods classes during interactive-video observations. This experience provides a unique opportunity where student teachers, classroom teachers, university faculty, and methods students can exchange information simultaneously. These observations also allow university supervisors to conduct student teaching supervision without leaving the university site. Although direct observation in the public schools is preferable to an interactive-video observation, this student teaching model calls for three observations in the public schools and three interactive-video observations, resulting in efficient use of university personnel. Because of limited public school impact sites, only six music student teachers can utilize the distance-learning equipment each semester. This number will increase when distance-learning equipment is placed in adjacent county public schools.

Impact NC has not been without its problems. During interactive sessions, all data is decoded from one site, sent to another site, and recoded by a "codec" machine. This process results in a 3-second delay of visual and sound data, which creates some distortion. Occasionally, it is difficult to hear student responses because of microphone placement, and it is not always possible to view each student because of limited camera placement. Regardless of specific difficulties associated with the project, ASU music students and faculty both agree that Impact NC has had a positive effect on teacher training education. Music students have had continual access to public school music classes that otherwise would not have been available. In addition, cutting edge technology has been an integral part of the teacher training curriculum, which may result in music students who are better prepared to meet the demands of the 21st Century.

Future plans for Impact NC and ASU School of Music include national/international video conferencing between citizens from varying cultures as well as networking between other schools of music to further develop distance-learning models for teacher training programs. Anyone interested in the use of distance-learning to enhance teacher training curricula, please contact:

Bill McCloud or Elizabeth Rose

School of Music

Appalachian State University

Boone, NC 28608

Fax 704-262-6446

Email ROSESE@Appstate.edu