Ball State's electronic field trip program provides students with learning experiences through a combination of broadcasts and online curriculum activities.

"Since its inception, the program has had a major impact on the lives of school children around the country," said Mark Kornmann, field trip coordinator. "They are seeing and learning about museums, historical venues and scientific operations that they may have never had the opportunity to visit in person."

Now in its fifth year, the electronic field trip service has broadcast from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the coast of Florida to track the migratory patterns of sea turtles and remote dinosaur digs in the western United States.

Teachers are provided classroom materials and online activities designed to allow children to better comprehend many complex scientific concepts as well as to explore new learning concepts and to consider expanded career opportunities.

"The field trips are much more than simply watching someone on the screen," Kornmann said. "When studying the dynamics of flight, children learned how to fly by building model airplanes.

"When we went to a dinosaur dig, students were given materials to identify various species and build models," he said. "When the students watch the broadcast, they have had the opportunity to form their own questions and ask them to the program's hosts."

This year the program offers four new live broadcasts taking students to the International Space Station on Oct. 23; Whitney Museum of Art, New York, Dec. 4; the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Feb. 12; and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Chesapeake Bay, April 30. Each program is broadcast live twice daily.

Participation in the program has steadily increased over the last five years. The sea turtle broadcast was seen by about 8 million. An estimated 15 million students will participate in the upcoming field trip to the International Space Station.

Cost is about $75 per field trip for each school, which includes the 90-minute broadcast, Web-based learning materials and free access to previous programs.

Ball State is the only university in the nation to provide the program, which is sponsored by Best Buy Co.,Inc., based in Minneapolis, Minn. The company is a specialty retailer of consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software and appliances.

By Marc Ransford, Communications Manager

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Kornmann by e-mail at mkornman@bsu.edu or by phone at (765) 285-8106. The program's Web site is www.bsu.edu/insite.)