The University of New Orleans College of Education and Human Development will demonstrate state-of-the-art virtual classroom technology on October 29 at 11 a.m. at the Homer L. Hitt Alumni Center. Visiting ambassadors from several participating Caribbean nations will experience this interactive technology as they watch, and then interact with preschoolers at Medard Nelson-UNO Charter School on St. Bernard Avenue.

Ambassadors representing Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and a delegation from Haiti will view cutting-edge technology that will allow near natural communication between project participants who are thousands of miles apart. The demonstration is part of a cooperative endeavor between UNO and each of the participating nations to enhance the quality of early childhood education programs. Working with the World Cultural Economic Forum and Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, the goal of this educational initiative is to create a community of learners and demonstration sites that model the best of research and practice of early childhood education.

"Preschool students in different Caribbean nations and in New Orleans will be able to meet, see, talk to one another, and participate in mutual and collaborative class projects through virtual face-to-face interactions with the technology UNO is providing," said UNO Chancellor Timothy P. Ryan.

"With the help of UNO's videoconferencing technical support team interactive video will be the vehicle used to bring our Caribbean partners training in early childhood education. UNO instructors will be able to provide real-time professional development, supervision, and coursework to administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals and parents using this technology," said James Meza Jr., dean of the UNO College of Education and Human Development.

UNO has been building its teleconferencing capacity since 2007 when the Louisiana Department of Education funded the Louisiana Low Incidence Disabilities Consortium (LA-LIDC) to increase the number of teachers of students with low-incidence disabilities, including deafness, vision impairement and significant disabilities.