Implementation This Year –

Students, Parents, And Teachers Ready To Tune Into ‘Wish TV’

By Jeff White

Parent response has been overwhelmingly favorable for the proposed pilot program Wish TV, according to the district’s Technology Director Norm McConnell. Although the school district has decided to participate, full implementation of the program would not happen until the end of October, at the earliest.

Mr McConnell and his technology team have been busy over the past month canvassing households to determine the level of support for Wish TV. Of the parents polled, Mr McConnell explained, approximately 95 percent affirmed that they wanted their children to have direct access to their classrooms from home via the Internet.

“Every fourth grader will have Internet capability in their television,” Mr McConnell said.

The proposed Wish TV pilot program – an innovative initiative designed by WorldGate Communications that seeks to electronically connect a child’s classroom and family room – was introduced to fourth grade parents at an informational session late last June. By giving students the ability to access the Internet at home and at school, the Wish TV program promises to close the gap between students who are already online and students who are not.

Every student participating in the program would have his or her own identification number and password that would patch him or her directly into their school’s homepage via a keyboard and a Wish TV box (the size of a cable box) on top of the television. The computer would recognize the ID number and password and bring up only the correct school’s home page; there would be no surfing to get there.

From their own “launch pad,” students would have a direct link to their classroom, with links taking them to class work, homework assignments, review materials, practice problems, and messages from teachers. The same screen would be used in the classroom during the school day, so students would essentially be able to go back over the day’s lessons at home.

In addition, parents would have their own separate ID numbers and passwords that they could use to log onto their child’s school page, where they can communicate with teachers or check their child’s class assignments.

With the Wish TV program, students would have their own e-mail account, with the ability to correspond with fellow students as well as their own teachers. Perhaps more significant is Wish TV’s promise to open avenues of dialogue between students and schools through another link off of a student’s school page.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed has called the innovation “the wave of the future.” Not too far down the road, Dr Reed believes, “Every school system in the United States will have a link from the home to the school. It will be the Internet. That will be the communication vehicle. It’s a great opportunity for us in a controlled fashion to look at it.”

The approximately 30 parents who attended the initial presentation were enthusiastic, though some expressed concern that Wish TV might render their own expensive technology superfluous.

Those concerns continue, Mr McConnell explained recently. “We do have people who don’t believe in television, and other people who have spent thousands of dollars on their own equipment.” Still, the favorable overall response has given the district the green light to proceed with the program.

“What we’re doing is we’re getting everybody’s name and address that wants to participate, and Charter [Communications] will contact those people,” Mr McConnell explained. “If they have cable, they will hook up a converter box. If they do not have cable, Charter will hook up cable for free and then hook up a converter box.”

As that track progresses, fourth grade teachers will report to their respective elementary school August 28 for Wish TV training. Mr McConnell said that overall, most teachers have been receptive and enthusiastic about the pilot program. He added, however, that teachers were not being forced to participate in the program. “We’re low-keying it. We’re not telling teachers that they have to do it.

“I’ve got veteran teachers champing at the bit [to participate], and I’ve got others who are skeptically enthusiastic.”

One such teacher is Ken Royal, who in his first year as a seventh grade science teacher last year was on the cutting edge of technology in the classroom, weaving it seamlessly into his science curriculum. Upon hearing about the Wish TV pilot, Mr Royal took a job on the fourth grade staff at Head O’ Meadow, so that he could be involved with the program from the beginning.

“It’s a golden opportunity,” he commented recently. “This is something that I’ve been trying to do all along, and they’ll do it for me. At this point, it’s the closest I’ll get to doing what I eventually want to do.”

However Mr Royal explained that he remains a bit leery, mostly because things that seem too good to be true often are. He said that he would feel more confident if he saw a finished product, which WorldGate still has not produced.

But for their part, both Mr Royal and Mr McConnell are preparing for the implementation. Mr McConnell has set up a Web page linked off of the district’s home page specifically dedicated to Wish TV questions and answers. People can access it at: www.newtown.k12.ct.us/~ndmc.

Likewise, Mr Royal has linked to a Wish TV page from his home page at: www.newtown.k12.ct.us/~royalk.

Newtown is one of 12 school districts in the country, and the only district in the state, that was invited to participate in the Wish TV pilot program

For the technology director, an “across the board” program like Wish TV would only make technology implementation at the fourth grade level easier, for both students and teachers. “There’s a real uniformity to this,” he explained. “Every kid will have the same interface. Teachers won’t have to teach this from 20 different operating systems. I’ll be able to reach every fourth grade teacher. If you’re going to get involved in the Internet as a teacher [or student], it doesn’t get any easier than this. I’m excited for students, but I’m also excited for the teachers.”