Homeward Bound

By Peter West

Alan Griffin is one of the nation's first "virtual teachers." From his desk at the administrative offices of the Weber school district in the suburbs of Ogden, Utah, he can monitor the 40 junior high school students enrolled in his world civilizations course simply by turning to his computer screen.

There, on a district-run electronic bulletin board, students discuss assignments on line, retrieve course outlines and other information, and question their teacher via electronic mail, all from their homes.

They tap out their messages on personal computers at home or in the school district's media center. Those messages speed through their modems along regular telephone lines to a PC dedicated to running this on-line course. The software then sorts out their messages and allows Griffin to answer their questions...