1. People of the Prairie: The Illinois Amish Communities

Central Illinois is home to the fourth largest Old Order Amish community in the nation. The Arthur, IL settlement began in 1865. Approximately 4000 Amish reside in the rural countryside just outside the communities of Arthur and Arcola. The Illinois Amish are tied to their Reformation beginnings by their history, faith, simple way of life and plain dress.

Amish families have traditionally been engaged in farming, a practice that enabled them to live a life quite distinctly separated from the larger society around them. The past several decades have brought significant changes in occupation for many Amish families. Due to such factors as a marked decrease in availability of farm land, a large increase in price of land, and reduction of crop prices, Amish have had to turn to other lines of work. Many have begun cottage industries and business, some of which have grown quite large and in turn employ other Amish. This change has resulted in important challenges to the Amish way of church and family life, especially to the pattern of the whole family's working as a unit. Businesses need customers to succeed, and tourists compose the largest number of customers for Amish businesses, which has brought about a great increase and alteration in the interaction between Amish and non-Amish people. Use of modern technology for the sake of business success, such as telephones, power tools, copy machines, and vehicles, is more and more accepted among the Amish, while still preserving homes without electricity and horse for their transportation and farm work.

Participants in this tour will visit the Amish Interpretive Center (museum) in Arcola. Then as you travel through the Amish countryside, a knowledgeable step-on guide will highlight the farms, homes, schools and business in the area while explaining their faith and lifestyle. Participants will also visit an Amish dairy farm and an Amish produce business. The Amish dairy farmer will take you through his dairy barn and milking parlor while discussing aspects of the business from breeding to milking and how he milks without the use of electricity. The owner of the produce business will take you through his greenhouses and explain the life cycle of his flowers and vegetables. He will explain the greenhouse business and the demand for local produce.

More information about the Amish Interpretive Center and the Illinois Amish community in Arcola and Arthur is available on the web at www.amishcenter.com.

The Robert Allerton Park at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a 1,500-acre natural area located 25 miles southwest of Urbana-Champaign near Monticello, Illinois. The Park includes a Visitor Center, public park areas with formal gardens, a conference center, a diversified farm site, and vast natural areas.

The 1500-acre woodland, garden, meadow, and prairie landscape that surrounds Allerton House was once the private estate of Robert Henry Allerton. Named "The Farms," the estate was the center of the 12,000-acre Illinois agricultural enterprise acquired during the latter half of the 1800s by Robert's father Samuel. The property was given to the University of Illinois by Robert Allerton in 1946 for use as a public park, as a venue for education and research, and for natural areas conservation.

Allerton Park is composed of several major elements. The core of the estate features an English-inspired manor house, a reflecting pond, an approximately 10-acre meadow, and a series of formal sculpture gardens. A network of interpretive and primitive hiking trails winds through the woodland, riparian, and prairie areas of the Park, of which 1,000 acres have been designated a National Natural Landmark because of the quality of their upland and bottomland floodplain forests. Historic farmsteads are gradually being renovated and once again used productively. One of these farmsteads is now a model farm where university students grow a variety of produce and other specialty crops for horticultural, conservation, and craft use.

The natural areas of the Park are used by a variety of University departments, as well as other universities and conservation agencies, for environmental study and for participatory student interactions. Public programs, with a strong environmental emphasis, are available throughout the year. What was once the private oasis for a single family is now a vibrant teaching, recreational, and learning sanctuary for nearly 100,000 users every year. Allerton Park is a unique cultural and environmental asset of the University of Illinois and serves as a bridge between the public and the educational and research resources of the University's faculty.

Participants in this NACTA tour will visit the diversified farm area, tour the formal gardens and some of the other natural areas, and have an opportunity to dialogue with Allerton staff about this unique educational, research, and recreational treasure in the middle of Central Illinois.

Participants will also have some free time to revisit the formal gardens featuring sculptures Robert Allerton acquired in his world travels, or take a hike on one of the 15 miles of hiking trails throughout the park, or visit the gift shop in the Visitor’s Center for unique and one-of-a-kind items, such as miniature replicas of the Allerton Fu Dog statues, artwork of Allerton gardens, sculpture, and natural areas, and Illinois-produced food items with custom Allerton labels. The shop also features a wide selection of garden and nature-related books and field guides, bird feeders, and gardening supplies.

3. University of Illinois Educational Technologies and UI Campus Tour

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is situated on nearly 1,500 acres and flanked by the twin cites of Urbana and Champaign. Chartered in 1867 as the Illinois Industrial University, the University opened with its current name in 1868 as one of the original 37 public land-grant institutions created after Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in 1862. Today approximately 31,500 undergraduates and 11,250 graduate and professional students attend classes at the Urbana-Champaign campus. Undergraduates come from all 50 states, with 88% coming from Illinois. Over 4,000 courses are offered. The faculty numbers approximately 3,000 members.

The tour will highlight the opportunity to participate in an Open House of Educational Technologies to be held at the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) Library, Information and Alumni Center. The library is located centrally on the south campus and surrounded by many of the College of ACES buildings. Participants will have the opportunities to work side-by-side with EdTech experts to learn a range of technologies, as well as to generate their own examples of some technology applications.

The EdTech Open House will include a number of demonstrations of (mostly) free and easy technologies that support teaching, learning, and collaboration. These will include: developing creative and thoughtful PowerPoint presentations; how blogs, wikis, and Google Docs can be used for teaching, learning, and research collaboration; using Vodcasts and Podcasts for teaching and public outreach; publishing digital pictures with Flock-n-Flickr; easy streaming video with Youtube.com; recording from the radio, and others. Many of the instructors will be from the Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES) Educational Technologies office.

In addition to the EdTech Open House, tour participants will be free to spend time in the afternoon wandering the University of Illinois campus and take in a range of campus landmarks including:
The Morrow Plots - country's oldest experimental agricultural fields in continuous use.
The Astronomical Observatory - designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990.
Foellinger Auditorium - built in 1907, the auditorium has a copper roof and cornice.
The Hallene Gateway - east entry to the campus.
The Spurlock Museum - a state-of-the-art museum that houses approximately 45,000 artifacts.
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts - an nationally preeminent performance facility.
Harker Hall - the oldest remaining classroom building on the campus.
Illini Union - considered one of the most significant buildings on campus.
Altgeld Hall - completed in 1897 with later additions.
The Alma Mater - Designed by University graduate Lorado Taft, unveiled on June 1929.
Beckman Institute - the largest academic building on campus.
Engineering Hall - This example of Renaissance Revival architecture, was built in 1894.
Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion - 2nd among public museums in Illinois.