ACELINK Gives Elmhurst High School Students Access to the World

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Record Number: 3025
Displayed from: Feb 21, 2007 , until: Feb 22, 2007

Elmhurst High School students will be virtual disc jockeys (video jockeys VJs) and actually host the world-wide Megaconference Jr. video conference from their school, 3:15-5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22. Access to Megaconference Jr. 2007 is provided through ACELINK, a joint project of the Indiana University/Purdue University Fort Wayne Division of Continuing Studies and Invent Tomorrow Education Consortium, and the collaborative efforts of Barb Gentry, Elmhurst High School principal and Fort Wayne Community School's Technology Department. Elmhurst High School is hosting the fourth annual Megaconference Jr. global event for all students and educators in Allen County. Megaconference Jr. is a project designed to give students in elementary and secondary schools around the world the opportunity to communicate, collaborate and contribute to each other's learning in real time, using advanced multi-point video conferencing technology. Presenters conduct video conference-based presentations and activities focused on academic and cultural issues. Participants address questions to presenters and collaborate with geographically diverse peers in collaborative learning activities, thus building international cultural awareness. Detailed information about the event including the day's schedule of presentation is available at www.megaconferencejr.org. Elmhurst the representative from Indiana for this world-wide event. If you are curious about long distance learning, join Elmhurst representing the state of Indiana, along with the United States, Australia, Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Croatia, Indonesia, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia at this event. Over 300 schools will join the conference throughout the day. Some present, some are Virtual VJs (Elmhurst), and some just watch and Blog. Elmhurst will be live for the Roll Calls, for the presentation by Florida State University with Astronaut Norm Thagard, and from 3:15 - 5:15 p.m. The Megaconference Jr. event will include participants from over 200 schools from countries around the world. In addition to the United States, the countries of Australia, Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Croatia, Indonesia, Malta, Portugal, and Slovenia will be participating. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (EST) at Elmhurst in Room 213. Area students, educators, parents, and interested community members are invited to attend. About Megaconference Jr. Megaconference Jr. is the world's first all virtual K-12 video conference event over Internet2 and high speed networks around the world. This event is made possible by a volunteer team of technologists, students, teachers and staff. The Internet2 Commons Videoconferencing Service provides the high capacity multi-point videoconferencing technology that makes this event possible. For information, contact: Louise Teague, IPFW University Relations, 481-6495; Sandy Schaufelberger, ACELINK coordinator, 481-0747; Barb Gentry, Elmhurst High School Principal, 467-2832.


With nearly 30,000 students, Fort Wayne Community Schools is one of the largest school districts in Indiana. FWCS proudly allows families to choose any of its 50 schools through its successful school-choice program creating diversity in each school, including some with more than 75 languages spoken. FWCS offers seven magnet schools focusing on areas such as science and math, communication, fine arts or Montessori at the elementary and middle school level. In high school, students can choose from the prestigious International Baccalaureate program, Project Lead the Way or New Tech Academy as well as other rigorous academic and specialty training programs.