The technology making this possible is an interactive video system that uses telephone lines to connect sites. The legislators connect with Garraty's class via a two-way audio and video facility in the Finance Building in Harrisburg. Students choose a legislator and an issue to research and prepare a list of questions, which Garraty faxes to the legislator before the class session.
Students are a big part of that.
And since we make policy about education, we certainly should know how students feel about those policies. Students quizzed Rep. Geist, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, about magnetic levitation trains, a system of frictionless rail transportation proposed for Pennsylvania. We really hammered away at Geist about the Mag-Lev trains. Rep. Geist, who splits time between Harrisburg and his district office in Altoona, said interactive video made it much easier to fit the class into his schedule. The camera operator can zoom in on the student who is speaking.