By JONATHAN DALE, Staff Writer
May 22, 2007
Printed courtesy of Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, CA

TODD KRAININ PHOTO Second- and third-graders at Westside Elementary School west of Imperial enthusiastically respond to a videoconference on tide pools with Crystal Cove State Park staff Tuesday. The class helped prepare the students for today’s visit to the tide pools at Crystal Cove.

Jacob Shafer sat mesmerized at the images moving on the television screen before him, his eyes wide with anticipation.

Rather than addling his brain with television shows, the 9-year-old third-grader from Westside Elementary School west of El Centro participated with his class in a special virtual field trip to the Crystal Cove State Park tide pools in Orange County on Tuesday.

“I thought it was great because I learned a lot more about tide pool animals,” Jacob said.

Jacob’s combined second- and third-grade class, taught by Westside Elementary Principal Nancy Rood, was treated to the tide pool field trip via videoconference as part of the Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students program put together by the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

Tuesday’s virtual field trip served as an exhibition for schools from San Pasqual Valley Unified School District and the Imperial Unified School District, to which Westside Elementary belongs.

The experimental display was done via satellite connection, and was used to help work out some of the bugs in the program, which the Imperial County Office of Education plans to use extensively beginning in the fall.

“The teachers work with the PORTS rangers to allow students to take these virtual field trips,” ICOE Learning Technologies coordinator Jeannine Enz said. “Most of these students wouldn’t be able to travel to these places.”

Jacob and his classmates laughed and cheered as they watched park ranger Jen Langer from her spot on the beaches of Crystal Cove, 180 miles from their classroom.

The virtual field trip preceded an actual field trip to Crystal Cove today by Rood’s class, and served as a way to acquaint themselves with tide pools before seeing them up close and personal.

“This was wonderful,” Rood said. “This was just excellent to prepare them for the real trip.”

Langer asked the group of students to answer several questions about tide pools and the creatures that live in them, subjects the kids were clearly excited about.

“I thought it was really, really cool,” 9-year-old third-grader Brittney Steele said. “(Ranger Jen) actually showed us some animals that she found at the beach.

“Like Jacob said, I learned a lot more about tide pool animals,” she said.

>> Staff Writer Jonathan Dale can be reached at (760) 337-3440 or at jdale@ivpressonline.com