Meeting the Needs of Rural Special Education in the Information Age: Using TI-IN Network's Interactive Satellite Based Educational Network.

The TI-IN Network is an interactive, satellite-based educational system offering a technological alternative to face-to-face classroom instruction. Developed through a cooperative venture between private enterprise and public education agencies, the TI-IN Network offers a total systems approach by providing the entire programming and hardware package to the user. Curriculum offerings include inservice training for teachers/staff, high school academic courses, student enrichmeat programming, and tutorials. An evaluation by the Texas Education Agency showed that there was no significant difference between students' performance in a TI-IN classroom and a face-to-face classroom. Another evaluation project being designed by TI-IN will compare baseline data with subsequent data and will analyze the motivations for use and the expectations accompanying use of this technology. TI-IN Network is involved in two projects targeted for special education high school students: (1) Project Help, which implemented system modifications to allow forms of response other than talkback, such as tactile pads, voice recognition machines, etc.; and (2) The Mathematics Magnet School of the Air, which instructs gifted and talented secondary students on higher order thinking skills. (JDD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************