Things are bit too hectic here to jump right in to this idea before fall, but I wanted to get a bit of feedback. For you moms out there, would you or your kids find it interesting to participate in online classes where the kids would

- hear the course teacher and other students through their PC speakers

- be able to communicate using a PC microphone

- Be able to interact onscreen by moving objects on the white board around, writing to the whiteboard, and using pointing tools.

- be able to watch PowerPoint-like presentations, the teacher writing to the whiteboard, see software applications onscreen that the teacher is using (such as PrintMaster or Windows Media Player movies) and actually be given control of that application so that the student can try a skill, or be taken websites with the teacher as the guide to see guided simulations.

- be able to play recorded sessions of the above when for some reason the student could not be online at the time of the session.

 - within the lesson see teacher and/or student (optional) webcams; recorded video of things like a science lab, an artist demonstrating a painting technique, how to sign, etc.

 - have a one hour class every day of the week at a set time with one day of the week participation either in-person if you live close enough or as a 'virtual in-class student' if you live beyond reasonable driving distances - the hands-on labs and activities done on this day will be broadcasted using webcams in the classroom. If I can find moms willing to venture in to this with me, we can even have host home sites dotted all over the country. Kids in a local areas can travel that one day per week to be together for hands-on stuff themselves in the cell groups. I would train the cell group mom a few weeks prior to the hands-on lab day and she would lead it. Then we would all meet together using the conferencing software I have been descrbing.

With the above technology, would you be interested in the following courses to start off with - many more to come in the future:

• Art taught by a practicing professional watercolor and pencil portrait artist
• High school chemistry classes with a separate but supporting private or small group algebra tutoring component for any student that needed the math help.
• How to make a plant biology topic electronic notebook

What level of computer and internet access to you have:

• Fast computer with at least 256mb RAM
• DSL connection

It will cost me $41 to $51 per seat per month just to buy the conferencing technology (it is a monthly subscription). I would be donating my teaching time free. This being the case, would you pay $41 to $51 per month for what I have described so that at least I am not out of pocket for the conferencing cost?

LATE BEAKING NEWS - ADDED LATER:

I just talked to the sales rep and I misunderstood the pricing structure for the lower end, Elluminate Lite level of the software. It is not $41/seat it will be about $50 for a whole ten seats. Yes! thatt means the per seat cost is merely $4.10. Now that can make this very doable!!!!

Please respond to the above questions by posting a comment in the comment section or contacting me via my e-mail addy armoorefam@centurytel.net. Please do pass the word around to other homeschool moms too. This will be a big financial risk if no one shows up for the classes because I pay for the technology whether we have all the kids we can fit or whether not a soul turns up. I need to know if there is enough interest to have a safety net's worth of people to defray the cost.

For those that are interested in learning more about the conferencing technology that we will be using, go to the Elluminate Live website at http://www.elluminate.com. Once you are there, you can watch recorded sessions to see how the tools work or even get involved with a live session. Pre-recorded sessions are at https://www.elluminate.com/site/external/event/playback