Classrooms without walls
Health Science Center instructors teach via video conferencing

How would the world of science and research be affected if Health Science Center instructors could pipe their knowledge and experience into every classroom of every school district in the state and show young students the exciting and interesting world of science?

Last month, the departments of Cell Biology and Genetics and Biomedical Communications combined their knowledge and talents to bring science into Fort Worth ISD classrooms and classrooms across the state via distance learning.

On Oct. 23, Dr. Rusty Reeves, GSBS Class of 1997 and assistant professor of cell biology and genetics, presented “How Systems Work in Your Body: The Human Heart and Lungs” to 54 classrooms around the state. Using live video conferencing, Dr. Reeves taught approximately 3,000 fourth- and fifth-graders about the human heart and lungs from right here at our gross anatomy lab.

The live feed uses multiple video cameras in our labs and connects to classrooms through the Internet. The conferencing allows Dr. Reeves and our faculty and students to interact with the students in real time – the students can even ask and respond to questions live.

In another video conference this week, Project SCORE mentor and PhD student James Flynn connected with students at Carter Riverside High School in Fort Worth. He taught his Project SCORE class about the eye from his own lab here at the Health Science Center.

Dr. Reeves says most of these students have never seen what a researcher actually does in the lab, and these video conferences help them see how they can make science a career.

These video conferences are a first for the Health Science Center, but more are in the works, in addition to plans to expand the conferences to use Power Point presentations.

DVDs of both presentations were made, and Dr. Reeves plans to present a program about the technology on Nov. 9 to the National Science Foundation – the organization that funds the SCORE program.