Arkansas students learn on high-tech school bus

HECTOR, Ark. — Students in the woodsy, working-class Hector School District can now look at more than the Ozark National Forest in the two-plus hours they spend on the school bus each day.

The Pope County district is participating in a new program believed to be the first of its kind: The school is playing science and math content over ceiling-mounted computer screens during the lengthy bus rides.

"To say we are rural is an understatement," Superintendent Karen Cushman said, noting that more than 60 percent of the 600-student district is located in the Ozark National Forest and that 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The district is working with Vanderbilt University's Aspirnaut Program to turn the bus into a mobile classroom of sorts. The program founded by Arkansas native Billy Hudson works with rural schools in Arkansas and Maine to help educate students in science, technology, engineering and math.

The project aims to engage students — and take advantage of the fact that they're a captive audience with few distractions, Cushman said.

"It's hard to get students excited about math and science when a teacher stands up there to lecture," Cushman said.

The upgraded, high-tech bus has five ceiling-mounted screens that show educational content geared at different age groups. Younger students sit toward the front of the bus, and older children sit in the back. Each seat is equipped with headphones for the students. The programming rotates daily and features videos from PBS, NASA, the Discovery Channel and Smithsonian Institute.

Officials say that piping in educational programs during commutes provides 10 extra hours of learning each week — the equivalent of 12 class periods weekly.

Long bus rides are becoming more common in Arkansas and throughout the country as states force tiny school districts to consolidate in the hopes of providing a better education for students. While more educational opportunities are available at school, more and more students spend hours on the bus each day getting to campus.

Officials with the Aspirnaut Program estimate that about 200 students in Arkansas now ride buses that can provide educational content. The program began in 2007 in the Sheridan School District, where students were given laptops and iPods for their commutes on a school bus equipped with wireless Internet.

So far Hector officials have noticed one definite difference: The bus is a lot quieter.

Bus driver Kenny Bull picks up his first student at 6:42 a.m. each day and has all 50 students dropped off at the school by 8 a.m. He's used to writing up students for bad behavior on the lengthy commutes, but since the computers were introduced, he hasn't had to reprimand anyone for acting out.

Younger students really get into the programs, he said, although the science and math shows haven't entirely caught on with high-school students, who are allowed to use their cell phones on the bus.

"They like their iPods and mp3 players better," Bull said.

Online:

www.aspirnaut.org

Online:

www.aspirnaut.org