28
Apr 2014
David Ackerman, a Building Construction Technology professor at Greenville Technical College, has been partnering with the local school district, Greenville County Schools, for years, teaching geometry skills through assembly of bluebird houses. The project gives elementary school students an opportunity to apply math skills to real life, and gives Ackerman?s college students a chance to teach younger students as they prepare all the materials and assist with assembly. This year, the project reached more elementary schools thanks to a new approach. When Greenville County Schools established the Virtual Science Program in August 2013, instructor Melanie Dixon began thinking of ways to incorporate effective hands-on projects. She and Ackerman began talking about how to take the birdhouse project to a virtual level months ago. On April 28, Ackerman joined Dixon at the M.T. Anderson Support Center, where the two taught the project virtually using videoconferencing. Ackerman had a team of students and instructors in place at each of the four elementary schools where the project was facilitated, and they assisted on location, helping a total of 250 fifth grade students complete the project in one day. Ackerman is committed to this outreach activity and excited that thanks to virtual instruction, it reached more students than ever before. ?This is an exciting collaboration between the K-12 system and our community?s technical college,? he said. ?It allows the elementary students to see why it?s important to master math skills, and they get a taste of a career field that relies upon some of those skills.? ?The Virtual Science Lab is an excellent and innovative way for the students to use hands-on lessons that correlate to the science standards while having fun and learning at the same time,? Dixon said.