The students in Cheryl Zuckerman's sign-language class at Fort Lauderdale's Dillard High recently exchanged ideas with teenagers at Dunkirk High near Buffalo, N.Y., seemingly oblivious to the camera positioned in the far corner in their classroom.
One of Zuckerman's students joked about how cold it must be up north.
At Broward School Board headquarters, Vijay Sonty watched the conversation on a split-screen computer monitor.
''This is just the beginning -- we're going to cross new boundaries in education,'' boasted Sonty, head of technology for the Broward school district.
Sonty and other South Florida educators, including those at Coral Gables Senior High in Miami-Dade, are using the latest advances in technology to create what they say will be the future of education -- a classroom without walls. From podcasting to iTunes to video conferencing, they're making an ambitious push to tap into a generation that has become increasingly tech savvy.
For the past few months, students at Dillard have been communicating with high-schoolers in Dunkirk by means of a camera and computer software that link both classrooms. The students share lessons and advice about signing during the hour-long classes, viewing live images of their counterparts beamed over a television screen.
''I think we're further along than them because they get a lot of tips from us,'' said sophomore Candace Stokes. ``It was weird at first, but we got used to it. . . . You don't even notice the camera in the room.''
LECTURES ON DEMAND
Citing the benefits of video conferencing during School Board meetings, Broward officials plan to use the same technology to produce class lectures on demand. A video-conferencing device can be wheeled into any Broward classroom, then linked to a control unit in district offices.
The live content will be available for students, administrators and parents to view. The equipment carries a $4 million price tag, but most of the cost will be reimbursed through E-rate, a federally funded program that sponsors technology in education, said Sonty.
Broward officials also plan to launch the iTunes eSchool Project in collaboration with Apple this summer, enabling students in all grades to download content from the classroom onto their iPods in much the same way they do iTunes.
Advocates say the innovation will help expand the audience of veteran teachers. For example, students could download math and science lectures by teachers from other schools whose methods have proved to be most successful.
''Very strong teachers will be able to reach more students,'' said systems analyst Kevin Williams.
Students who are home-schooled, hospitalized or incarcerated would also benefit from such on-demand lectures, which would be accessible through a central database.
New technology has allowed some students in Broward to take ''virtual'' field trips to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The program works through a partnership with museum curators who stream live content into Broward classrooms. For example, video of the Discovery ''Return to Flight'' shuttle launch last summer was streamed into several classrooms throughout the district.
Educators in Miami-Dade say they're just starting to tap into what's hip among their students. At Coral Gables Senior High, art studio teacher David Taylor said iPods have become the calling card for cool.
''I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about,'' said Taylor, who got an iPod for Christmas. ``Most of my students are always raving about the device.''
In minutes, he was converted.
But Taylor decided his new toy could be an educational tool. He positioned a camera and tripod in his classroom. Students can now download his lectures onto their iPods -- a first in Miami-Dade public schools.
''Nothing can ever take the place of the classroom, but we're reinforcing what we teach through technology,'' said Taylor. ``We're tapping into what's popular with kids to further our teaching methods. . . . It's revolutionary.''
On a recent morning at Gables Senior High, the scene in Taylor's classroom reflected a generation raised on gigabytes.
Students sat at desks perusing the Internet. A teenage girl clicked into a simulated painting program. A podcast of a water drop under a microscope lens gave a captivating view of nature's hidden secrets. Giant amoebas swam alongside protozoa.
Taylor also downloaded a presentation he produced with a history teacher.
The video of World War II began with a short narration. Sirens echoed from a newsreel of Germany's attack on Poland. In 30 minutes, the onset of Hitler's madness was told in a blitz of flashing clips and sound bites.
''It's just amazing how technology can take a lesson on World War II and make it very engaging,'' he said.
Students are taking notice.
EXAM PREP
''It really helps to be able to download the lectures . . . especially history class, since it requires a lot of note-taking,'' said 12th-grader Krystina Francois.
Her iPod is stocked with the latest Sunday-night episodes of Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, but Francois said she will be adding class lectures as well.
''It will really help when it's time for exams,'' she said.
Top Miami-Dade officials say they are in tune with technology's role in the classroom.
''We have to contend with where the culture is headed in terms of technology,'' said Miami-Dade district spokesman Joseph Garcia. ``Anytime we can utilize the kinds of tools students are used to is going to accrue to their benefit.''
Several months ago, the Miami-Dade School Board approved a five-year technology plan that includes an initiative to upgrade to the most up-to-date computer software within the classroom, as well as train teachers on using those programs.
Said Taylor: ``These kids are going to use their iPods . . . but we can make it a device beyond the scope of music videos.''
Sonty, the Broward schools' technology chief, agrees.
''It's 24/7 learning,'' he said. ``We're creating a mechanism in which students and teachers can create content, publish content and access content.''
But the effort to expand the use of technology in schools is not free of hurdles.
The Broward School Board recently voted to ban iPods and laptops from school grounds. Several board members proposed allowing the devices on campus if they're turned off, or with permission of an instructor, but Superintendent Frank Till said principals wanted them banned altogether.
''We're living in a connected world and there are a lot of devices that are always on and always connected. . . . The teachers just need to tell students when to turn them off,'' said Sonty.
He said educators bent on tradition will have to adapt to an ever-changing world or be left behind.
``This is the 21st century -- we can't go back to the chalk-and-blackboard model.''
