Sheri Hamilton Brings Distance Learning to the School of Education

During her summer break from her busy life as Assistant Professor of Special Education at Butler University in Indianapolis, Sheri Hamilton came to IU to participate in an innovative new distance course being offered in the School of Education. For the first time, "Survey of Mild Disabilities" is being sent via closed-circuit television to three rural Indiana areas. Hamilton and her two co-teachers from the IU School of Education taught three different sections of this course here in Bloomington, while students in the three small towns were able to watch and participate without having to travel here. Because the course required the help of both technicians as well as teachers, and because it had to be taught three times in a row each and every day, this summer fellowship turned out to be a very intense and draining experience. Instead of being exhausted by it, however, Dr. Hamilton was energized by the positive feedback from students and the opportunity to work closely with respected IU faculty members. She says, "It was really nice to be involved with a teaching project I wasn't experienced with. Teaching a course is not difficult for me, but distance learning brings up a lot of different issues." Because of the distance element of the course, students were required to work collaboratively in groups and to retrieve much of the course material from the World Wide Web. Hamilton modestly claims, "Our goal as teachers was simply to serve as facilitators, to redirect or restructure conversations or just enhance them with our expertise." The vast amount of work and research arising from this course (which participants hope will be continued next summer) has resulted in a paper that the group will present at the Teacher Education Division of the Council on Exceptional Children's annual conference in November. Having been involved with this project since its inception at the beginning of the summer, Hamilton feels fortunate to be able to continue her participation after she leaves Bloomington. She says, "I'm really getting what I wanted out of this. This is a really nice place and a great program."

When she returns to Indianapolis, Dr. Hamilton has plenty to keep her busy. Because she feels that service learning is an important element of the process of becoming a teacher, she requires her Butler University students, in addition to the usual Education curriculum, to participate in an urban education service learning project. Hamilton developed this project entitled PEACE-Pursuing Excellence and Commitment in Education-to foster a connection between her college students and the urban youth in Indianapolis. Budding teachers volunteer for PEACE several hours a week and talk, tutor and play with students from the local elementary and secondary schools. "Service learning," states Hamilton, "is not just about doing community service, but also about taking the ideas and concepts that we discuss in class and putting them into practice in a real teaching situation. I believe that if you are going to be a teacher, you should be able to teach everybody."