网络教育——小城镇学生与教师的好帮手

Online Education Helps Students, Teachers

in Small Towns

网络教育——小城镇学生与教师的好帮手

 

As rural towns struggle to adjust to economic changes and face global competition in manufacturing and agriculture, some communities are looking to technology as the answer. The increased availability of fiber¹ optic networks and high-speed Internet access has particularly impacted rural schools. Students in small towns can now access advanced courses and materials throughout the world. Branson, Colorado has flourished as a provider in this new world of online education.

 

Branson, Colorado sits far from any major highway, amid rolling hills covered with scrub brush, in the heart of ranching³ country. Fewer than 100 people live in the town. Main Street is unpaved, and the local school is housed in a two-story red brick building.

 

Jay Aufderheide: That building was built in 1922.

 

Jay Aufderheide, the town's former school superintendent⁴, says Branson was small then, and has only gotten smaller over the years.

 

Jay Aufderheide: At that time, the town was like 2,000 residents. Then some time shortly after that school was built, about half the town burned down. And not too long after that, half of the half that was remaining burned down. And so, since the (19)20s and (19)30s, Branson has been very small, but these folks are survivors⁵.

 

The small band of survivors includes 65 students in the Branson schoolhouse. Despite the small number of kids in the building, the school district has an enrollment⁶ of nearly 1000. Most of them are students of Branson School Online, the district's five-year-old Internet-based education program for kids from kindergarten through grade 12.

 

Branson On-line students and teachers come from all over the state -- from urban and rural areas. They're attracted to the program for many reasons. Some students have medical problems, some are teenage parents, some are on probation⁷. Other kids have demanding work schedules or, like Ryan Lutz, just weren't satisfied with their local public schools.

 

Ryan Lutz: I had a lot of distractions⁹ and just overcrowding, it was hard for me to work. But I work more diligently¹⁰ now than when I went to brick and mortar¹¹ school.

 

Branson teacher Elizabeth Davis also comes from a traditional 'brick-and-mortar' school system, and she likes her virtual classroom better.

 

Elizabeth Davis: When I taught in brick-and-mortar, I had 150 students over five or six class periods a day. At Branson, a full load for a teacher is 24 students. I know my kids so much more.

 

And she appreciates the work schedule that allows her to stay home with her own children. Like most of her on-line colleagues, she lives hours away from the actual town of Branson… even if she's only a click away in cyberspace¹².

 

Students work their way through online course materials, which can range from strictly¹³ text-based reading assignments to computer-simulated chemistry labs. Homework assignments are e-mailed to teachers, who respond by e-mailing or calling with feedback.

 

Branson Online's incoming director Kris Enright says the technology of online education is really just a springboard to a new theory of teaching.

 

Kris Enright: The technology is increasingly becoming a transparent¹⁴ medium, so that although one on-line school what’s really great about is no longer online-ness. It's the individualization, it's the ability to diagnose exactly and prescriptively what a student needs.

 

And while Mr. Enright definitely sees the need for brick-and-mortar schools, he also makes a strong argument for change.

 

Kris Enright: The brick and mortar traditional model was based on a factory model. The kids come in, we apply a treatment, we give them a curriculum, and they all need to come out at the end looking somewhat similar.

 

Whether Branson On-Line graduates will also look somewhat similar remains¹⁵ to be seen. In a recent study of so-called 'distance education,' 72% of school districts offering Internet or video-based learning programs said they planned to expand them. As more U.S. schools dive into the world of on-line learning, educators will begin to form conclusions about what works and what doesn't.

 

For VOA news now, I’m Stephen Raher in Branson, Colorado.

 

注释：

brush [brQF] n. 灌木丛；杂木林

ranch² [rAntFiN] adj. 经营牧场的

unpaved [5Qn5peivd] adj. 没有铺柏油的

superintendent [7sju:pErin5tendEnt] n. 主管，负责人

enrollment [in5rEulmEnt] n. 登记，注册

kindergarten [5kindE7^B:tn] n. 幼儿园

on probation 察看，缓刑

distraction⁸ [dis5trAkFEn] n. 分心的事物

mortar [5mC:tE] n. 灰泥

feedback [5fi:dbAk] n. 反馈，反应

springboard [5spriNbC:d] n. 跳板

transparent [trAns5pZErEnt] adj. 明晰的，一目了然的

diagnose [5daiE^nEuz] v. 诊断，判断

curriculum [kE5rikjulEm] n. 课程

1 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 ranching   

adj.放牧的

参考例句：

• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
• This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。

4 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

7 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

8 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

9 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

11 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

12 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

13 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

14 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。