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To be so involved in technological advances, Tommy Bearden
enjoys a down-home lifestyle in his hometown of Stamford.
Married for 19 years to Kim, Tommy requests your prayers as they raise two teenagers – Scott, 17, and Holly, 14. Pets include the pesky Mary Kate, mean Smokey, his favorite Star along with 22 other cows.
“My all-time favorite cow was Chocolate,” Tommy said. “Chocolate was always the first to come up when I went out to feed. She would actually rub her head against me until I scratched her behind her ears.”
In addition to running this small herd, Tommy said his hobby is cotton, wheat and farming.
“My wife says that because I don’t make any money, the farm is a hobby,” Tommy said, whose real hobbies include gardening and construction of a two-story dock in a stock tank.
“Kim calls it the Taj ma Dock named after to Taj Mahal,” Tommy said. “I call it a redneck swimming pool.”.
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....anywhere … anytime
learning with Tommy Bearden!
Call Thou shalt not let dust collect on video conferencing equipment.
“All teachers would agree that it would be an educational sin not to prepare students with the technical skills necessary to live in our computer world,” ESC 14 distance learning consultant Tommy
Bearden said. “I also think it is an education sin not to introduce students to video.”
As Bearden considers the world in which students will work within the next 10 years, he projects that we will live in a world dominated by video.
“We all will have elaborate video phones in our homes,” Bearden
said. “We will all have video cell phones.”
 He even considers with fuel prices and greenhouse gases, video may become one way to conserve the earth’s natural resources.
Bearden participated in his first video conference in October 1997. Through the past seven years as a distance learning consultant, his accomplishments include involving about 40 campuses in Region 14 delivering video projects. Along with grant support,
Bearden said that nearly every student within Region 14 ESC has easy access to a video system.
“I am very proud to have a high school in my region that delivers a virtual field trip called ‘Cotton: Plant of Many Uses’,”
Bearden said. “To my knowledge they are the only high school in the nation that has developed, produced and delivered a VFT.”
More than just using video conferencing for collaboration, Bearden
believes students can deliver content, capitalizing on local resources for state and national events. Some of the programs he highlights are “A Journey Through Our State,” “A Walk Along the Brazos River,” “Our State – A Brief History and Fun Facts” and “School Safety/Weather.”
“As I work with other schools in different states, I have discovered how lucky we are in Texas to have a state wide video backbone – Texas Education Telecommunications Network (TETN),”
Bearden said.
With many buzzwords associated with distance learning, Bearden clarifies that interactive video or ITV is a medium for delivery of DL.
“While a definite name has yet to be hung on what we do with two-way video, I personally prefer the term interactive video,”
Bearden said.
Bearden anticipates a hybrid distance learning environment developing at the high school level in which courses will blend online and ITV technologies.
“This hybrid will take the best of both mediums to combine into what is best and most efficient for students,”
Bearden said.
As part of the Distance Learning Work Group associated with all education service centers in Texas,
Bearden said this work group originated 27 free programs for K-12 schools reaching approximately 1,300 campuses and more than 80,000 students. In addition to this role, he advocates for school districts to seek grant opportunities to provide ITV equipment.
“At a minimum, school districts need to have at least one ITV system at every campus or within easy access of every student,”
Bearden said and emphasizes that easy access does not mean loading students on a bus to travel to another location. “The time involved in transporting students to the ITV system will be a deterrent to its utilization by teachers.”
For teachers seeking more information, Bearden recommends keeping an eye on the Connect2Texas website (www.connect2texas.net) hosted by Region 11 ESC which will add a student collaborative site in early fall.
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