The NIE project, according to John Carroll, head of computer science and one of the principal investigators of the project, is basically using, in new educational applications, technologies that have recently been harnessed and refined. A MUD is a real-time chat environment in which people at different locations can communicate and work together by exchanging messages and running programs directly by computer. They can even go further with the project. They can make virtual school activities accessible to the community through the BEV network so parents can go to a science fair every week without leaving home. But there are lots of obstacles to such participation.
People have busy lives and work hard.
So we plan to make some of this interaction possible asynchronously and remotely. The project will involve Blacksburg High School and Blacksburg Middle school, representing town populations, and Riner Middle School and Riner High School, representing rural populations. In the rural schools, Carroll said, it is sometimes the case that not enough students want physics to justify the logistics and budget problems of hiring a specialized teacher. Larry Arrington, supervisor of technology for Montgomery County Schools, says the rural Montgomery County schools are able to offer advanced courses such as physics only every other year because of the low enrollment at the schools. If that's the case, a lot of our work in providing laboratory experiences for students can be done on a collaborative basis.