UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 1, Page 13
September 1, 1994
UD a regional math site

     The national Creating Connections Project, offering Internet
training and support to rural math and science teachers, selected the
University's Mathematical Sciences Teaching and Learning Center as a
regional training site, according to Ronald Wenger, center director.
     Funded by the Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Project and US West
Foundation, the program is sponsored by the University of Colorado and
Boulder Valley Schools. Only 20 sites from Alaska to the East Coast
were invited to participate.
     The goal of the program is to give rural elementary and secondary
educators an opportunity to learn how to access the computerized data
resources available to them through the Internet, thereby improving
math and science education, Wenger said.
     Frances Wilson, the project resource teacher, said 26 educators
from rural schools in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and
Virginia participated in a two-day workshop in August. Generally a
team of two from each school attended the conference as a pair, since
having two resource persons in school districts is more effective than
one. The teachers' districts must make a commitment to support them in
accessing telecomputing networks.
     The program was intensive, with training on the Internet going
from 7:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. the first day. This was followed by
another full working day. The teachers received training in accessing
the Internet and in using e-mail to later communicate with each other
and with other educators.
     "It's a wonderful opportunity for teachers to access lesson
plans, new information and keep in contact with each other via e-
mail," Wilson said. "Some of the resources available to them are
AskEric electronic library, NASA Spacelink and KIDLINK.
     Enabling rural teachers to use Internet will bring the world to
rural areas and help the teachers share their educational skills and
experiences with one another."
     In addition to the Creating Connections program, the Mathematical
Sciences Teaching and Learning Center is the base for the Delaware
Teacher Enhancement Partnership, funded in part by the National
Science Foundation, and for the state of Delaware's Mathematics
Coalition, one of 50 established in each of the United States.
     The center also is the hub of an e-mail network for math and
science educators in Delaware, with more than 160 teachers signed on,
according to Wenger.
                                                   -Sue Swyers Moncure