Electronic "Site Tours" Come to Northern Ontario |
VOL. 7, No.1, 105-107
This past year, Northern Ontario secondary school students have been touring museums, galleries, and other organizations electronically. With the help of Contact North's audiographic teleconferencing network, institutions like the Art Gallery of Ontario, located in Toronto, and the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa have been able to conduct electronic "site tours" of their facilities. Students living in communities on the Contact North network can participate in these tours while physically remaining in their home communities. The tours have been made possible through audio- teleconferencing and the use of Optel Telewriter pages made up of digital images that can be displayed at each site simultaneously. Slides prepared by the institutions were converted into digital images on computer disks. They were then distributed to each participating school prior to the tour. The guides were then able to call up each image as needed from their site in Ottawa or Toronto. The images would then appear simultaneously on the monitors at each site.
As a result of an initiative funded by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, every secondary school in Northern Ontario, with the exception of some larger schools in the metropolitan areas are now equipped with Contact North audiographic teleconferencing equipment. This equipment gives all schools electronic access to more than 100 other schools in communities across Northern Ontario and to other regions out-side.
The first tours were given in English and French by a representative of the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa. The more than 150 participating students were located in 15 anglophone, francophone, and mixed language schools (9 English, 6 French language) in communities spread from Noëlville and Iroquois Falls in the northeast to Red Lake and Rainy River in the northwest. Using the equipment supplied by Contact North, the Mint guide was able to lead students through displays of coins, medallions, and other items while verbally interacting with them, and from time to time circling or pointing out significant features using the electronic pen. He began with a brief history of the Mint, gave descriptions of numismatic collections, and explained the international role that the institution plays.
Students, who in large groups might be intimidated and reluctant to ask questions, felt more secure because they were in the shelter of their own familiar environment, surrounded by friends. The questions poured in, sometimes jamming up the line. Students monitored at different schools maintained their interest for the entire 50 minute session.
Prior to the tour, a short video tape of the mint was shown to students at all the sites. Many teachers used the video to prepare the students by asking them to write down relevant questions. These and other spontaneous comments and queries kept the guide on his toes for the entire session. In addition, many students used the Telewriter to write in comments or to circle interesting features on the electronic displays.
The Art Gallery of Ontario tours were also conducted in English and French. This time 24 schools (15 English, 9 French language) participated. Students were introduced to the tour by a silhouette of the Toronto skyline drawn live on-screen by one of the guides using the Telewriter. The first image shown was that of the entrance to the Art Gallery. Due to a massive renovation during the summer, the picture was out of date not showing the latest additions. The guide simply used the Telewriter to paint in the additional structures as she spoke.
As the Gallery's collection of statues and images were being displayed, the guides made electronic "sweeps" of the sites, asking questions or inviting students to draw or write on the screen. The paintings ranged from fourteenth century masterpieces to Andy Warhol's pop art painting of Elvis. One student was invited to draw the reins on an electronic image of Degas' Horse and Jockey sculpture. The guides made full use of the telewriter, using the pointer and the pen to direct the students' attention to different aspects of the style and history of the paintings and sculptures. The students used the pen for annotating and to electronically "raise their hand" by writing their site initial on the corner of the screen.
In addition to the tours, the Margaret Brenner Audio-visual Centre of AGO also delivered French and English language information sessions for teachers, apprising them of how to access the numerous slides, videos, and learning kits available from the gallery. Teachers in over 21 schools participated (13 English and 8 French language schools).
At all the sessions, the capacity for interaction among the participants made the presentations unique. For the students and teachers isolated in remote communities, the experience broke down at least some of the barriers created by geography. For the students confined to correctional facilities their incarceration, at least for this experience, became less significant. Traditionally, rooms have confined people. Emotionally and psychologically people have felt constrained by their physical isolation. These electronic site tours have contributed to the severing of the confines of physical space by transporting humanity's treasures through reformatory walls and across the vast expanse of Northern Ontario.
Rory McGreal
Contact North
NE Regional Centre
634 Nortre Dame Avenue
Sudbury, Ontario P3C 5L2
Bernie Simand
Director of Adult Education
Cree School Board
Baie du Poste, Quebec G0W 1C0
Gérard Violette
Contact North
NE Regional Centre
634 Nortre Dame Avenue
Sudbury, Ontario P3C 5L2
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