Somerset students participate in global videoconference at The Center through CenterNET2
Students from Somerset High School and Meece Middle School recently got that chance thanks to CenterNET2, a statewide videoconferencing network operated by The Center for Rural Development.
Those students gathered at The Center in Somerset to participate in the Megaconference Jr. 2009 event, an educational “virtual gathering” on Feb. 19 that brought students at 156 national and international sites together using advanced multi-point videoconferencing technology.
In The Center’s distance-learning classroom, the Somerset students competed in a rousing game of “Jeopardy!” against students in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Those students could be seen on the two high-definition video monitors at the front of the classroom.
“It was just like we were playing in the classroom at the exact same speed,” Colby Hall, a sophomore at Somerset High School, said.
CenterNET2—a national leader in videoconferencing technology—made the game possible by coordinating, scheduling, and bridging the gap for the transmission of the Somerset students’ videoconference.
Those students also interacted with elementary and secondary students in Florida, Ohio, Minnesota, California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and in the Southeastern-Central Canadian province of Ontario.
Meece Middle School seventh-grader Victoria Dodd was impressed with students from Rural Hall, N.C., who provided information on the history of their home state prior to the opening round of the “Jeopardy!” game.
In fact, many of the clues used in that game came directly from that pre-show presentation. Rural Hall used props and student actors to present the story of “the Lost Colony,” a colony of settlers on Roanoke Island in North Carolina who either abandoned their settlement or disappeared between 1585 and 1587 when they failed to receive supplies from England.
“Their presentation skills were excellent,” Dodd said of the Rural Hall students.
Cloyd Bumgardner, director of public relations for the Somerset Independent School District, said the virtual connections provided through CenterNET2 erase geographic barriers and distance to allow students to collaborate with peers who are hundreds—if not thousands—of miles away.
“In this area of the state of Kentucky, we have traditional barriers of transportation and geography,” Bumgardner said. “This videoconference helps overcome those barriers. It gives us a window to the world through The Center for Rural Development.”
CenterNET2 Project Manager Robyn Phillips was excited to watch the students’ different presentation skills.
“Not only did they experience the technology, but they were able to practice their communication and speaking skills with students all over the world,” Phillips said. “The most exciting thing is that our local Kentucky students are able to take advantage of resources they can continue to utilize as they grow and become the great leaders of today, tomorrow, and the future.”
Participating in the Megaconference Jr. 2009 global event were six Somerset High School sophomore and junior representatives from the gifted and talented program, and four Meece Middle School students from the Student Technology Leadership Program.
For more information on CenterNET2, contact CenterNET2 Project Manager Robyn Phillips at The Center for Rural Development by phone at 606-677-6000, or by e-mail at rphillips@centertech.com.
The Center for Rural Development, located in Somerset, Ky., provides economic and community development programs to residents in a 42-county service area of Southern and Eastern Kentucky, and is home to several statewide and national technology-based programs. For more information on programs available through The Center, visit www.centertech.com.
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Photo Caption 1: A group of Somerset students listens to a videoconference presentation on North Carolina’s history by students at Rural Hall, N.C., shown in the monitor at right, during Megaconference Jr. 2009, a global event that brings together elementary and secondary students at 156 sites throughout the United States and around the world. Ten students from Somerset High School and Meece Middle School were involved in the videoconference, which was held at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset, and scheduled and coordinated by The Center’s CenterNET2 network, a national leader in videoconferencing technology.
Photo Caption 2: Students representing Somerset High School and Meece Middle School participate in one of the segments of Megaconference Jr. 2009, a global event that brings together elementary and secondary students from throughout the United States and around the world for a unique, one-of-a-kind learning experience. The Somerset students worked as a team to compete in an interactive version of the television game show “Jeopardy!” following a videoconference presentation by students in Rural Hall, N.C. The videoconference was held at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset, and scheduled and coordinated by The Center’s CenterNET2 network, a national leader in videoconferencing technology.
