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Mark Adams speaks with students from the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum in Missouri.
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The new teleconferencing room had been the school's long unused television studio.
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Cameras provide the two-way direction so instructors can see the students and respond.

McCann Classroom Equipped for Long-Distance Learning

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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McCann students were able to get a history lesson from the Truman Library through the new long-distance learning classroom. Superintendent James Brosnan joined them for the first teleconference.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – McCann Technical School held its first teleconference Tuesday afternoon.

Students of Ken Recore’s 10th grade history course met with other schools from across the country online and discussed post-World War II America with Mark Adams, educational specialist at the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum in Missouri.

McCann has a newly installed teleconference room for long-distance learning with two televisions, webcams, microphones and computer-ready desks.

Students are now able to interact with other students in virtual classrooms in real time.

Principal Justin Kratz sees benefits in the use of teleconference in the classroom setting.

"What we are trying to do is open up opportunities for our students that are going to prepare them for life in the 21st century," he said. "We do everything we can to bring the larger world to our students and these types of interactions will give our students a huge advantage."

Kratz sees technology like the teleconferencing as a critical aspect of a technical school education. He believes it will better prepare students better for the future job environment.

"We want to look for ways to make connections with universities, with industry, education organizations and expand our curriculum," Kratz said.

Beyond the educational aspects of the teleconference, Kratz believes it shows students how to interact with the world. McCann students interacted with classrooms in Texas, California and Arizona.

"They saw students from all over the country today, and they are learning how to interact with professionals and how to talk to people from all walks of life," Kratz said. "I think about the impact this will have on the students in terms of confidence, public speaking and speaking clearly."

Although the first teleconference focused on history, Kratz sees its use in all elements of the McCann curriculum.

"We are going to encourage our teachers to find ways to incorporate this into all aspects of the curriculum, and I don’t really see it as having any boundaries in academic, vocational or specific shops," he said. "There could be a culinary institute that has a cooking demonstration our kids could sit in on or different industries could give tours of facilities."

McCann purchased the technology needed for the teleconference from Polycom. They supplied the school with a list of resources and opportunities that include possible teleconferences with NASA and the Smithsonian Institute.

Student Dakota Hazell was shocked by the new educational technology and sees many possibilities in it.

"It's crazy that you can talk to people from all over the country, and I didn’t know there was going to be all these other schools," he said. "I would like to see the Vermont and Massachusetts capitol buildings and talk to senators and historians."

Kratz said the teleconference room is part of a bigger push toward technology.

"If we really want to push students towards the workplace, as it is today, this is what we have to do," he said. "As a technical school we have to be at the forefront and prepare our students for high skilled jobs."


Tags: long-distance learning,   McCann,   teleconference,   

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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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