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Contact: David West
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
9/10/98
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES - Northwestern State University has received a grant of $350,000 from the Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand the "Rural Louisiana Distance Learning Initiative" to serve Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches and Vernon parishes. Northwestern had the top-ranked proposal in the nation in the current cycle of grants awarded by the Rural Utilities Service.
The grant will create a 10-parish network connected to schools and other sites through high speed T-1 grade lines approximately 25 times faster than a 56k modem. Five parishes, Catahoula, DeSoto, Red River, Sabine and Winn, were previously connected through a $300,000 grant from the Rural Utilities Service NSU received last year.
The project will address needs including K-12 education, higher education, adult and continuing education and job searching. The grant is designed to enhance learning opportunities for residents in these parishes by providing live interactive voice and video over the Internet to school sites.
Among the types of classes that could be offered are standard, remedial and advanced placement courses for grades K-12. Undergraduate, graduate and teacher certification classes could be presented through Northwestern. Through the initiative, GED, workforce development and life-long learning courses could also be taught over the network.
"This grant will strengthen communication between Northwestern and schools within its service area," said Northwestern President Dr. Randall J. Webb. "Using the latest in distance technology, we will be able to use the Internet through dedicated T-1 telephone lines to provide credit and non-credit instruction as well as access to a world of information. This project is an excellent example of what a university and school systems can accomplish by working cooperatively toward a mutual goal."
Each parish will receive a classroom with a classroom/laboratory local area network based on microcomputers that can communicate globally with voice, video, text, graphics and data. All end-user sites will have a network of 10 camera-and audio-equipped microcomputers networked to a server, a development/authoring station, laser printer and smart board digital projector. The design of the system will allow other schools with similar equipment to participate.
Schools selected to participate in the initiative are Ferriday High School, Montgomery High School, Jena High School and Lakeview Junior-Senior High School and a site to be determined in Vernon Parish.
Matching funds for the project, which totals $880,800, are being provided by school boards in each participating parish and NSU. Resources for the project are also being provided by the Central Louisiana Distance Learning Center which was established at Northwestern with a grant from the Rapides Foundation.