FRANKLIN, W.Va. -- There are sharks in Pendleton County.
Students got up close and personal with several of the predators at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida during the first ever "virtual field trip" conducted by a West Virginia school using our statewide voice-video-data network based on ATM technology.
This new way of learning is part of a pilot program with three schools called the Bridges Program. The program links three K-12 schools with new courses and new ways to learning using high speed, highly interactive videoconferencing.

(Left screen) Mote Marine Lab (Right screen and foreground) Franklin Elementary Students on their "virtual field trip."
"The field trip was a huge success," said county technologist J.P. Mowery of the Pendleton County School System. " Thanks for your support. We have three more scheduled!"
Students in Mrs. McClung's class at Franklin Elementary School took advantage of our offer to support "trips" to museums, zoos, NASA and other locations with educational missions and attractions. They selected the lesson on sharks from the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, FL.
A device called an "ISDN gateway" provides an easy-to-use dial-up connection to any destination that has video and a telephone number. In addition to Pendleton County High School and its feeder schools, Hannan and Fayetteville high schools are also participating in the Bridges program, and receiving courses from Marshall, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, Concord and West Liberty State College. High school students at the three participating schools are getting instruction in French, calculus, Spanish and a new course called "Careers in Technology.
Other students in Pendleton County have visited Zoo Atlanta, talking with the keepers of the giant pandas on loan from China.