Greensboro, NC: Reflecting technology's importance to the practice of agriculture, faculty members from the North Carolina A&T State University School of Agriculture are using distance education technology to reach students at Perquimans County High School.

Since August, 19 juniors and seniors in a Perquimans County High School agriculture class taught by Tonya Little-Williams have been linking up with NC A&T School of Agriculture faculty members via satellite and the Internet.

"Using technology in this way shows students that new developments can help us address issues, not only in education, but also in food production," said Dr. Abolghasem Shahbazi, associate professor of agricultural engineering. During his three weeks of teaching the Perquimans students, Shahbazi focused on the impact of technology on agriculture's history.

"People used to think of agriculture as a farmer in a field with a plow," said Shahbazi. "We want to show students that agriculture has changed a lot over the years, and that it continues to change by using technology to meet the world's food needs."

The NC A&T professors interact with the Perquimans students through computers and video monitors which are connected to a digital communication network. The A&T connection originates in the tele-classroom of McNair Hall on campus, where the professors appear in front of a video camera and use computer generated presentations to guide the Perquimans students. Also in the room is a monitor on which the professor can see the Perquimans students in their classroom.

In the Perquimans County High School interactive classroom, students use a single monitor to switch between viewing the A&T professor and the presentation. They spend three days of the week interacting with A&T professors, and the other two, working on projects and other assignments.

The connection between the two classrooms is made through the North Carolina Information Highway, a high-speed digital network to which many of the state's high schools, colleges and universities are connected.

"Our goal with programs like these is to make the technology transparent," said Carter Bing, NC A&T's teleconference manager. "We want both the students and the teachers to forget that the technology is there, and instead focus on the content of the class. After the initial fascination, the teleconference classroom becomes just a classroom."

Students in the Perquimans class aren't just watching television. In addition to their video lectures and discussions, the A&T professors have given tests and assigned projects using the School of Agriculture's World Wide Web site. Among the projects was an assignment for each student to interview a farmer in their area to determine the marketing strategies employed by that farmer.

"The class is designed to give students a chance to explore different topics related to agriculture," said Dr. Richard Robbins, associate dean for instruction in NC A&T's School of Agriculture. "Through the wide variety of subjects our professors present, these students gain a better understanding about the many fields encompassed by agriculture."

Robbins was contacted about the possibility of the course after Perquimans County High School faculty saw the School of Agriculture's annual Satellite Recruitment Videoconference.

"The school had phased out vocational agriculture classes, but they were interested in relating agriculture to the environment, international marketing and such developments as biotechnology," said Robbins. "We responded by developing a course around their needs and our capabilities."

In the next year, Perquimans students can expect to learn about such issues as waste management, international trade, sustainable agriculture, biotechnology, geographic information systems and natural resource management.

"We're a rural area with many businesses which depend on agriculture," said Little-Williams. "Because many of these students expect to return to the area to work in these businesses, there is a lot of community interest in exposing them to the career avenues available through agriculture. The diverse nature of the course is ideal for that."

For more information, please contact Dr. Richard Robbins, NC A&T School of Agriculture, (910) 334-7979.