ocated on the Olympic Peninsula near a magnificent temperate rain forest, Forks, Washington, is the furthest northwest town in the continental United States. While most people think Seattle's 32 inches of annual precipitation is more than enough rain, Forks receives almost four times as much.

Forks is a timber industry town at heart which has been reduced to a shadow of its former self due to past overcutting and current environmental considerations. With a population under three thousand and an economy that has experienced serious decline, this small, remote town doesn' t have the educational resources available to more urban areas. The Forks High School serves a relatively small population of students, most of whom plan to spend the rest of their lives in the area.

For John Jones, Forks' Superintendent of Schools, the Virtual High School (VHS) netcourses are a dream come true. He sees VHS as a ticket to the rest of the country and eventually the world for his students. When he heard that for every netcourse offered by Forks High School, he could then enroll about twenty local students, he asked to contribute as many netcourses as possible.

In additional to learning about technology, Jones explained that he saw three benefits to VHS: local students would receive course offerings that his school could not provide; those same students would make meaningful contacts with other cultures as they "converse" with teachers and students in distant places; and his participating teacher(s) would be part of a pioneering effort that would create a ripple effect throughout his small school system.

The ripple effect was poignantly confirmed in my meeting with Marsha West, the first Forks VHS teacher. "If VHS hadn' t come along I think I would have taken early retirement," explained West. "I have been longing for a new and interesting intellectual pursuit and this is it!" West is developing two sections of an advanced placement English course entitled "A Web-based Course in Literature and Composition" and "Graeco-Hebraic Foundations for Literature." Her seminar class includes readings and discussion of works in several genres, including epic, tragedy, narrative, drama, and poetry.

West's first step towards offering a netcourse will be to join over thirty other teachers from twelve states for a graduate level professional development workshop on netcourses, taught by the Concord Consortium. Since the professional development course is taught over the Internet, she will probably never meet her fellow teachers in person. She will experience first hand the challenges of distance learning.

The 25-week Teachers Learning Conference (TLC) begins with an introduction to technology and lessons, and includes understanding netcourse instructional theory and practices, and course design. While developing their own lessons aimed at inspiring and educating high school students, participants will engage in discussions about the differences between classroom teaching and teaching via the Internet.

Teachers will also learn to use Domino and Learning Space. Domino was developed by Lotus Development Corporation as a means to "serve" their Notes product on the World Wide Web. LearningSpace^TM, another product contributed to the VHS project by Lotus, is a set of templates that streamline technical authoring so that teachers can focus more on the content of their lessons.

The TLC culminates in the teachers offering a first round of VHS courses in the fall of 1997, when over 600 students from around the country will join the teachers and their fellow students in their virtual classrooms and move ahead in a collaborative educational adventure.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Welcome :: Masthead :: The Future Is Now :: VHS Netcourse ::
MayaQuest Expedition :: Prof. Development :: Personal Inquiries :: INTEC Tech ::
Power & Portability :: Here Comes the Sun :: Reform Education :: Perspective :: Get Involved! ::