Spring 1998 Distance Learning Sites for English 102

Tour || Map || Fellow Travelers || Comments

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The Virtual One Room School House As students take English 102 at Mid-Plains Community College, they can simultaneously take the class at three (or more) remote locations:
	If participating schools sign-up to take classes via the fiber optic network, students may participate in an interactive, televised environment. In other words, student can see and hear the instructor, as well as the students at the other participating high schools, and the instructor can hear and see them. Students can also receive the class over the NebSat II Satellite System, which allows one-way transmission of video and two-way audio through a telephone hook up. In addition, students can (and do) receive the class by videotape.
In Ron Block's section of English 102, all students can also visit the class's Web page, where they can view assignments, class notes, and slides from class presentations.

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Participating Schools

Besides the students taking Ron Block's English 102 at Mid-Plains Community College, students are currently taking English 102 for college credit -- through ESU 16's interactive television network -- at the following schools:

• Hyannis High School
• Mullen High School
• Wallace High School
• Wheatland High School - Madrid
• Hershey High School
• Sutherland High School
• Mid-Plain Community College

A Virtual Tour

In order to make physical contact with all the schools who take English 102, you would have to make the following journey three times a week:

1. Beginning at Mid-Plains Community College, take Highway 83 going north. Drive through North Platte (through downtown, over the railway viaduct, and past Cody Park), continuing for 3 miles north of the city limit. As you climb out of the Platte River Valley and into the hills, take a left at Highway 97.
2. After driving 26 miles on Highway 97, going deeper into the Sand Hills, take a left onto Highway 92. Drive 4 miles to the town of Tryon.
3. At Tryon, take a right, continuing on Highway 97. Along the way you'll cross the Dismal River, and 36 miles later, you'll be at your first stop, Mullen High School, in Mullen, Nebraska.
4. Teach your class, then take Highway 2 for 39 miles going west. This will bring you to Hyannis, home of Hyannis High School.
5. Now it's time for the longest leg of the journey. From Hyannis, drive south 32 miles on Highway 61 to the town of Arthur, and then continue for another 37 miles past Lake McConoughy and into the town of Ogallala.
6. You're not there yet. Still keeping to Highway 61, drive 19 more miles south to Grant, and then take a left on Highway 23. Driving 10 more miles east, you'll come to Madrid. Finally, you can teach your class at Wheatland High School.
7. Finally, a short leg. After teaching at Madrid, drive 21 miles east to Wallace for your class at Wallace High School
8. Just east of Wallace, take Highway 25 north, traveling 23 miles as you pass the Sutherland Reservoir on your way to Sutherland High School.
9. This part of the journey you might even be able to make in the ten minutes between classes. Take either Interstate 80 or Highway 30 for 7 miles east until you reach Hershey High School in Hershey, Nebraska.
10. Almost home (if North Platte is your home). Take Interstate 80 for 13 miles east to the North Platte exit. Take a right on Highway 83, going a couple miles south, and then take another right on State Farm Road. You should be able to see Mid-Plains Community College.

Well done. For two hours of class time, you've traveled over 270 miles. Remember, you have to do this three times a week.

Fellow Travelers

Distance learning has many definitions, the most common of which these days are Web-based classes. In the fall of 1997, I began to talking to Martin Steinbeck, the most knowledgeable person at Mid-Plains concerning Web page development, about the possibilities of increasing the school's Web presence. One conversation led to another: Tim Hall told us about server issues, Marilyn Megahan and Allen Settles shared their experience, Janis Ridnour offered administrative input, and Cliff Hill patched together a mini distance learning network. At the end of the semester, we held a staff development workshop to begin the process of setting up Web pages for the entire faculty, and in the spring, Martin Steinbeck taught a course, "HTML for Faculty," in which I and the following faculty members participated:

Please write to me with your thoughts and suggestions.

Name:	Your e-mail address:
Comments:
How did you find my page? Search Engine Just surfing Knew address	Do want me to reply? Yes No

Ron Block's Email || English 102 Syllabus || Mid-Plains Community College Home Page

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