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The Orange
County Register
Santa Ana, California
Saturday,
December 4, 2004
Connected
by the Classroom
A TV station's
teaching project is showing pupils at one Anaheim school that children in
other cultures aren't so different after all.
by Amy Taxin
HUNTINGTON BEACH –
An earthquake rocked Japan earlier this year, sending Carol Anne McGuire's
students at Anaheim Hills' Imperial Elementary School into a panic.
They had spent weeks getting to know their peers across the Pacific Ocean
in an after-school project that linked students through videoconferencing
to learn about other cultures.
And suddenly, their world had become a much a smaller place.
"Six months ago, if Japan had an earthquake, I would very highly
doubt any of my students would have come to me and told me that,"
said McGuire, whose class of visually impaired children led the
international project. "But they have personal connections with these
kids.
"Now, when something happens around the world, it's big news
here."
Students from eight schools in seven countries put the finishing touches
on the four-month project by airing videos about their cultures, customs
and a song they composed together in a one-hour program Friday on KOCE-TV.
McGuire set up a Web camera in her classroom so her pupils could hook
upwith others in Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Peru, Japan and Belgium
to compose a song on the computer together.
Soon, other Imperial Elementary pupils wanted to join in. McGuire invited
some to participate, and her class invited others.
Each country picked a drumbeat. The groups then swapped compositions and
added musical instruments to complete the score.
In the end, the project - known as "Rock Our World" - taught the
children as much about their peers across the globe as it did about music.
They learned that the "The Simpsons" is a popular TV show
worldwide. And that some children take public transportation instead of
yellow buses to school.
But the connections run deeper.
"We thought we were going to be more different than the same,"
said Cianna Means, 12, who was pleased to know that her peers around the
world also like SpongeBob SquarePants. "But it turns out, we're more
the same than different."
The KOCE program explained how the students put together pieces of music
over the computer to craft a song. It also gave students from around the
world the chance to show off their countries' delicacies, such as Belgian
chocolates, and handicrafts, including woven winter hats from Peru.
McGuire's pupils could see six of their seven partner schools on laptop
computers set up with Web cameras at KOCE-TV's studio in Huntington Beach.
One school in Morocco was unable to participate in the TV show.
KOCE-TV has a potential viewing audience of 14 million in Orange and Los
Angeles counties. Hall Davidson, the station's director of educational
services, said he expected 20,000 to 30,000 to watch the program in
California.
It will air again Jan. 6 at 11:30 a.m.
Now, McGuire's pupils say the sky's the limit.
They talk about starting a new "Rock the World" project. Or
trying to appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to talk about what
they've learned.
But Means made it clear. Her aspirations involve international travel.
"Our biggest dream," she said, "is to go travel around and
meet the kids."
ONLINE: Pupils from Imperial Elementary videoconference with a
New Zealand school at the KOCE studios.
Paul E. Rodriguez, The Orange County Register
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HOW'S IT GOING? An Imperial Elementary class greets fellow
pupils from six other countries over the Internet on Friday.
Paul E. Rodriguez, The Orange County Register
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