Tucked into a room in the Gornto TELETECHNET Center, third-year students in the Darden College of Education are working on their SOLs.Well, not their SOLs.

Although they don’t have their own classrooms and are semesters away from graduating, they are helping 128 fifth-graders at Tidewater Park and Lindenwood elementary schools in Norfolk prepare for their Standards of Learning test in social studies.

Once a week, about 50 Old Dominion students enrolled in “Social Studies for the Elementary Students,” a requirement for those seeking certification in pre-kindergarten through fourth grades, tutor the youngsters. Each university student is responsible for tutoring three students during the half-hour sessions.

While the Old Dominion students are just a few miles from the elementary schools, about 20 of them are tutoring via a two-way video interactive system. Called VTEL, the Old Dominion system allows the pre-service teacher to see and hear the student at the elementary school and the fifth-grader to see and hear the tutor at the Norfolk campus.

“It is the only program of its type that I know of – using VTEL technology to connect elementary students with pre-service teachers,” said Lynn L. Schultz, lecturer in instructional technology at Old Dominion, who noted that other institutions may use asynchronous technology methods.

Erica Smith, a junior education major from Pittsburgh, admits that the tutoring experience has its challenges, but she’s enjoying it. “This method is more interesting,” she said. “It is a new and different experience. I like seeing how the students use the technology.”

During a recent tutoring session with Smith, the fifth-graders used “Hyperstudio,” a computer program, to create a postcard of the Norfolk area. She had conducted a previous session on how postcards can be used to tell about a region – its climate, location and attractions.

“It is a really different approach to tutoring,” said Schultz, “one that most people wouldn’t have the chance to try because of the expense.”

Bell Atlantic provided funding to Old Dominion, which paid for the hardware and connection lines to the elementary schools, and staff members from Old Dominion’s Academic Technology Services trained Norfolk school personnel and Darden College of Education faculty and students to use the equipment.

This is the second semester that the education college has used the VTEL unit to enhance field experiences for the pre-service teachers, said Schultz.

Last semester, Old Dominion students tutored about 50 elementary students – one class per elementary school – in reading. The program has grown this semester to nearly 130 elementary students, including two classes at Tidewater Park and four classes at Lindenwood involved in social studies tutoring. To provide more tutors, the college has included two course sections compared to last semester’s one.

“Youngsters can go online for tutoring assistance, but two-way video and audio interaction with these students is helpful. It gives the student an opportunity to identify with their mentor or counselor,” said Anne Raymond Savage, former associate vice president for lifelong learning and academic technology services.

“It is really a very simple process to operate the cameras,” said Schultz.

“It is a neat idea,” Smith added.