Mapleton goes hi-tech

Although they may not have ever traveled there, Grade 4 students at Mapleton School got a glimpse of life in Churchill, thanks to some useful technology.

The students had a video conferencing session with international students who are in Churchill participating in the Polar Bears International Leadership Camp.

The conference was an opportunity for the students, who recently finished researching polar bears as a class, to reach out to the Leadership camp participants and ask questions about anything, and everything polar bear related.

“It is a wonderful way for the students to talk to real experts and ask them questions and get information that they may have otherwise not been able to find,” explained Grade 4 teacher Carmen Rohne. “The visual aspect really motivates them to be interested in what they are learning.”

Students came up with questions on their own to ask the leadership students, ranging from a variety of topics including global warming and how to save endangered polar bears.

This is the third time Mapleton School has conferenced via the internet with Churchill.  The idea to incorporate the technology into the classroom stemmed from principal Steven Dudar’s own experience with video technology as a necessity.

“Before I came to Mapleton, I worked in a school division where the schools were kind of all over the place and widely spread out, he said. “Often the only way we could have meetings was through video conferencing.”

Dudar said utilizing the technology in a simplistic fashion, as with the video conference, will prepare students for the future.  Many universities and collages rely on video conferencing to allow one instructor to encompass a mass amount of students in one lecture.

‘As the students get older, this type of technology is going to be incorporated into their learning.  They will be required to take courses – in distance education, so it’s useful for them to not be afraid of the technology, and know that it is a successful and positive learning tool,’ said Dudar.

Rohne said the conference inspired students to get more hi-tech with their upcoming endangered species projects.  She said the students have decided they want to blog online with the leadership students, and ask more questions and gather more information from them.  According to Rohne and Dudar, the earlier the students start adapting to these types of technologies, the better.

“Internet communication is becoming their world,” explained Rohne.  “They don’t pick up the telephone to communicate anymore, but rather e-mail and text or instant message.”

Although video conferencing and blogging may sound like a complicated task for a nine-year-old to take on, Rohne said the students are far more advances when it comes to technology than some adults are.  

“They aren’t intimidated by the technology as all,” she said.  “Sometimes they teach me things.  I learn something new (about Technology) everyday day from them.”

Mapleton would like to thank Selkirk’s business community for their financial support of the video conferencing project. 

“Although the LSSD does provide us with many resources, some things that we’d like to do as a school require outside support,’ said Dudar.  “We really appreciate the opportunities that community and sponsorship assistance are able to give us.”

Story originally published by the Selkirk Journal.