Ball State Alumnus Magazine, Classroom to the World

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the Ball State Electronic Field Trip (EFT) program remains the only one of its caliber in the nation. Having presented millions of kindergarten through high school students with the wonders of art, American culture, science, history, and geology since its inception, the program has more than 50 trips under its belt.

Mark Kornmann has directed the program since the beginning and explains how his team creates each unique trip. "Typically a year before an EFT, we will meet with museums and curators to fi nd out what projects they are working on," says Kornmann. "We choose a topic and have a group of elementary and high school teachers from around the nation visit a site to immerse themselves in the material and create the curriculum. Then I work with [museum] partners in getting the field trips to production." Students can explore the wonders of the Grand Canyon, visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and view NASA's "vomit comet" from the comfort f of their classrooms, thanks to ten full-time EFT staff members who bridge the best curricula with Web sites and live broadcasts. From concept to filming, the EFT team, including everyone from scriptwriters to video editors, creates each project from scratch.

The EFT program has evolved since it aired its first show, "Dinosaurs and More," from the Chicago Field Museum of Science and Industry in January 1996.

"We used to show 40 minutes of a taped broadcast and 20 minutes of live footage. Now it's moved to more than an hour of live broadcast," says Kornmann. "We used to have a resource binder for teachers. Now we have an interactive Web site that launches about a month before an EFT."

Usually geared toward fifth and sixthgraders, Web-based games and teachers' lesson plans enhance the learning process before an EFT. When schools connect to the live broadcasts through satellite, cable, PBS stations, and the Apple Learning Interchange online, students watch live footage and hear experts from park rangers to astronauts discuss their topics. Students are then able to call in and speak directly with the expert or e-mail their questions and receive an on-air response.

"We call it the world's largest classroom," says Jeff Mohl, EFT Web manager, who designs the educational sites on which students play games to enhance their EFT experiences.

In the mid-1990s, Ameritech allocated $30 million for grants to schools and equipped institutions with fiber optic networks for interactive video distance learning. That enabled schools access to cutting-edge technology and communications, including what Ball State Teachers College Dean Roy Weaver and Kornmann decided was an innovative method to connect students with unique educational resources.

"Having been in the early planning stages of this program, it's satisfying to see where we are," says Kornmann, who appreciates the support EFTs have received from various entities.

When Ball State's program was initiated, the Best Buy Children's Foundation became a major sponsor and has contributed nearly $4 million to the project over the years. Additional grants, as well as support from museums and EFT sites themselves, also help fund the effort. Sponsors include the National Parks Foundation, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, NASA/Space Center Houston, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

In December 2005, NASA sponsored an EFT called "Just Where is the Zero-G Room?" Aimed at high school students, the fi eld trip examined physics on earth and outer space.

Mohl and Brandon Smith, scriptwriter/director and 2001 Ball State graduate, raveled to the Johnson Space Center to research the topic last summer. They filmed footage of the C-9, the zero-gravity airplane known as NASA's "vomit comet." Simulating zero-gravity by dropping for up to 20 seconds in the sky, the airplane trains astronauts for the sensation of working in a weightless environment in space.

"We had 22 weightless periods," says Smith. "I had a rough time with it. By the eighth parabola, I was strapped down in the back of the plane getting sick."

However, Smith says he enjoyed the first six instances of weightlessness, during which he could touch his feet to the plane's ceiling, spin around, and float in the air.

Moving closer to the earth in the upcoming year are field trips examining ecology, politics, and sports. The next EFT is scheduled for March 7. "Tree-Mendous
Technology: The Science and Technology of Studying Treetops" will uncover the diverse ecology of a forest canopy. Students also can experience Carlsbad Caverns during an EFT in April.

Starting in the fall of 2006, EFTs will include visiting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to examine the First Amendment; learning how baseball played a role in Japanese internment camps; racing at the Indianapolis Speedway, and viewing volcanoes in Hawaii.

"It's rewarding for everyone involved," says Smith. "We have students participating from each of the 50 states."

According to Kornmann, this is also the first year the program has received registrations from students in other countries, including Mexico, Canada, and the U.K., and the extensive involvement is impressive. "Enrollment for this school year alone has been about 20 million students," he says.

Ball State remains the only university in the U.S. with a team of writers, videographers, and Web staff who create an electronic field trip from the ground up, enabling millions of students to view and communicate with scientists and other professionals about educational topics from distant locations. Kornmann is enthusiastic about the future.

"We've given kids a lot of opportunities to go places they'll never go," he says. "That's the beauty of the program. I look forward to the next ten years."

—Photos for this feature are courtesy of Ball State Electronic Field Trips—

2004-06 EFTs: Just Where Is The Zero-G Room? • Painting The Corners: Art And Inspiration • Biological Invasions: The Introduction Of Non-Native Species Worldwide • Discovering Our American Spirit: Finding Common Ground In The National Pastime • Sharing Perspectives At The National Museum Of The American Indian • Holocaust Museum: Exploring Our Daily Decision Making • Where Are All The Little Green Men? • Into The Canyon Stories from Grand Canyon: Family Broadcast • Capitol Deliberations: Exploring The Legislative Process, Day 1-2 • Celebrating 100 Years Of Flight: The Future Takes Off • Fastballs, Flips, And Physics: Science On The Sandlot