HPCC In Brief News Items Cornfields and computers - migrant farm children learn aeronautics Mars comes to Iowa over the Learning Technologies Channel 200,000 visitors at NASA Ames' Open House Mark Leon NASA (farm children learn aeronautics).

Issue 4, January 1998 Welcome to the on-line version of NASA's Insights Magazine. - NASA HPCC Program Manager Text Only F E A T U R E S >Focusing radar's lens >Cooperative Research Agreement Spurs Industry Change >VLAB-Virtual Simulation Lab of the Future ->__RETURN TO COVER__ I N - B R I E F >NASA HPCC News __________________________ A R C H I V E S >INSIGHTS VOL 2 >INSIGHTS VOL 3 __________________________   Insights is published by the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program Office. To receive a hard copy of Insights or request an address change contact Judy Conlon or write to: NASA HPCC Insights, Mail Stop 269-3, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000, USA

Cornfields and computers - migrant farm children learn aeronautics by Pat Kaspar At the Ciudad del Sol - City of the Sun - migrant farm workers' camp in the fields south of Davis, children tap into the Internet to learn about aeronautics. The one-room class crackles with excitement as some cluster around the computers while others make kites or fixed-wing airplanes. A very large but simple "Gracias!" adorns one blackboard. Another wall with a colorful poster signed by the students proclaims "Thank You!" Students range from kindergarten through eighth grade, but preschoolers often come with older siblings while their parents work the fields. "This is a breakthrough in teaching underserved migrant children," said Mark Leon, manager of NASA's Learning Technologies (LTP) Project, part of the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program. "HPCC, Cislunar Aerospace, Inc., the Davis Joint Unified School District and the University of California at Davis have worked together to turn these children on to the Internet and aeronautics. Accessing an 'Electronic Textbook' from their camp site by modem is the ultimate in remote access." The camp's multipurpose community center, which serves as the one-room school, now has four PowerMacs connected to an Internet server at U.C. Davis. NASA provides the computers, the U.C. Davis Information Technology Distributed Computing Analysis and Support Group houses the server, and Cislunar's multimedia interactive Electronic Textbook provides the curriculum. Cislunar's K-8 Aeronautics Internet Textbook Project also has pilot schools for the deaf in New York and Oregon that use the Internet to help remove communications barriers. At the Oakland Children's Hospital, young patients use the Electronic Textbook in their studies while the Internet allows them to stay in touch with their classmates during their illness and rehabilitation. The Electronic Textbook teaches aeronautics by tying the information to other areas such as sports and Earth sciences by using pinwheels, a baseball or a feather to relate aeronautics to the children's everyday world. This approach interrelates the curriculum into broader state and federal science curricula and expands studies into more subjects. Jan Meizel teaches high school in Davis and also works with the children at the camp. "We teach curriculum through crafts, activities, stories and mythology," said Meizel. "We teach word processing in both languages, and we teach English through story writing programs. We also use CDs with information on how to build airplanes. For the little kids, we work with shapes such as triangles and circles." Cislunar's Internet media includes sign language for the deaf, still pictures, and short video clips as well as written text. The Cislunar project has been testing the hands-on experience of the students for two summers. After summer, the families move on to Texas, Florida, Fresno or Mexico. According to Meizel, 95 percent of the families return to Ciudad del Sol. "That provides continuity," she said, "so we can track their progress." The project has already made an impact on the migrant children's lives. Evelin Gonzales has used WebChat to talk with people in France, Texas, and California. Jose Fernandez, one of the older students, keeps in touch with his cousin in Texas via email. Jose especially values the project. "In school we read Of Mice and Men. It said farm workers were the lowest. I want to do more - I want to be a doctor." For more information, contact: Mark Leon, NASA   Mars comes to Iowa over the Learning Technologies Channel by Pat Kaspar "NASA rolled in like an angel from above and brought us technology we hadn't even imagined," said Greg Reese, Technology Director of the Union Community School District in Dysart, Iowa. On NetDay, October 25, Dysart students were able to communicate with Mars researcher Robert Haberle at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) in California over the NASA Learning Technologies Channel (LTC), part of the High Performance Computing and Communications Learning Technology Project. The purpose of the LTC is to connect teachers and students to NASA scientists and researchers via the Internet to brief them on NASA's work. It was first used last year to present virtual conferences as well as virtual instruction in telerobotics for 75 students across the Western Hemisphere. Ames Research Center's Learning Technology Manager Mark Leon, Justin Messer and Vice President Al Gore participate in Net Day on Wednesday October 25th. Leon explains to Gore how NASA will help meet the Vice President's goal to enable all of the nation's school systems online. Photographer: Greg Reese The LTC, managed by Marc Siegel at Ames Research Center, is designed to serve schools with data services ranging from slow (14.4 kbps) to fast (1.544 Mbps). It is broadcast from a small trailer studio at ARC that sends live video and audio to an ARC Ground Station where it is encoded in RealAudio, RealVideo, and CUSeeMe and shipped out via the Internet to schools across the nation. The successful demonstration was the result of an intense effort by Learning Technologies Project (LTP) staff to respond to a last-minute request from the Office of Vice President Gore to do a technology demonstration at the school for NetDay. The Dysart school had no network and only two 28.8 kbps modems, although family and students had installed cable for NetDay. "The success of this event is clearly an example of the incredible team we have here at Ames," said Mark Leon, LTP Manager, who was on site in Dysart. "We worked from midnight to dawn, solving problem after problem, but we made leading-edge technology work on suboptimal machines in a remote location with very little time." In a typical session, students can view digitized video and audio from the channel. Chat windows allow students to submit questions which are answered during the lecture session by leading NASA researchers. For example, a Dysart student typed in a question to Haberle as Vice President Gore watched over his shoulder. Those gathered around the terminal had a good laugh at Haberle's response when he compared the cold temperatures of Iowa to some places on Mars. In attendance at Dysart with Al Gore was NASA administrator Dan Goldin. According to reports, both distinguished guests were very impressed with the demonstration. "Very nice job," said Al Gore as he left. For more information, see the Learning Technologies Project Web.   200,000 visitors at NASA Ames' Open House An outpouring of visitors wanted tatoos of a space shuttle simulation. NASA HPCC Program manager Bill Feiereisen (center of the top right photo) and staff member Pat Elson were on hand. At NASA Ames Research Center's first-ever Open House on September 20,1997, more than 200,000 visitors gathered and asked questions about NASA technology. The Open House focused on partnerships with NASA among businesses, aerospace, academe, community organizations and education. Judging from the number of displays from partners in Hanger One, fellowship in the community overflowed the premises. Activities at the Open House included watching robotics competitions, observing a Mars rover demonstration, taking a virtual trip across the Martian surface, viewing Mars and lunar rocks, and learning about our next mission to the Moon with Lunar Prospector, among other things. Guests also visited many important and historic facilities, including the world's largest wind tunnel, one of the world's most sophisticated flight simulators and the premier NASA supercomputing facility in the country. NASA's High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program interacted with guests by sharing its goals and accomplishments. Its exhibits featured side-by-side demonstrations and large graphic displays depicting major activities in Computational Aerosciences, Earth and Space Science, NASA Research and Education Network and Learning Technology Project. Through the NASA Open House, the public connected with a unique aeronautic facility while learning more about aeronautics. Other Ames facilities demonstrated important facets of information technology and space through a series of demonstrations and lectures. The blizzard of thanks given to many government officials for the Open House indicated the publics' fascination with the work conducted at Ames. The Resident Agencies at Moffett, the U.S. Space Camp California, the Ames staff and the local Chambers of Commerce worked cooperatively on the event.

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