With cameras rolling, 15 fifth-graders shouted with gusto, "Hello, world, from Pittsburgh Brookline."

The world was waiting.

That greeting was the start of an educational presentation sent live Thursday over the Internet and Internet2 to hundreds of schools in 13 countries as part of the fifth annual Megaconference Jr.

The conference, which has grown from about 50 schools, is just one sign that students around the world are eager to connect with one another.

Pittsburgh Brookline teacher Beth Kovalcik finds lots of schools ready to use technology to interact with students far away. Next week, Brookline's third-graders will present the "Whacky World of Weather" to students in New Mexico, and sixth-graders will get to know students in Belfast, Ireland, with whom they later will share a writing assignment.

The two-way connections are made possible by expertise, a receptive school and a well-equipped classroom.

Principal Valerie Lucas scheduled Ms. Kovalcik, who has a master's degree in instructional technology, to spend half of her time on distance learning. Ms. Kovalcik has found other teachers eager to have distance learning enrich their lessons.

The district has provided a state-of-the-art system, with Internet2, a super high speed network. The classroom has a presentation table with a control panel and a computer monitor to show prerecorded material. The room also has two large screens, two video cameras and a document camera for transmitting maps and other pictures.

There have been some surprises. The Brookline eighth-graders did a survey including students' complaints about amusement parks and turned it into a "Family Feud" type of game. But in a video conference, they learned the top complaint in Baton Rouge, La., wasn't even on their radar: bugs.

The equipment also comes in handy for virtual field trips, like when the first-graders, who were reading about wolves, were able to talk with experts -- and see wolves -- at the International Wolf Center in Minnesota.

At Megaconference Jr., Pittsburgh Brookline was among about two dozen schools selected to present during the 12-hour conference.

Some other local schools -- including Pittsburgh's Vann and Carmalt elementary schools, Montour High School and Keystone Oaks Middle School -- interacted live with presenters in a faraway school.

Some others -- including Brookline Regional Catholic School; Pittsburgh's Schenley High and South Brook and South Hills middle schools; and Wilkinsburg High School -- have watched presentations.

Megaconference Jr. was started to give students in elementary and secondary schools a chance to have an international teleconference, much as the Megaconference at Ohio State University does for adults. The effort is run by volunteers around the world.

Pittsburgh Brookline students, with Ms. Kovalcik, developed an exercise they called the "Smart Clip Challenge."

Students wrote and videotaped plays to demonstrate material they studied in art, math, science, spelling and gym. They then asked viewers to recognize origami, identify an acute angle, explain why a paper plane flew the farthest and spell "Mississippi." And they asked them to tell what they were learning about.

The Brookline students could see and talk with students at a K-8 school in Ontario, Canada, and four high school students from North Dakota. The Ontario group surprised Brookline by asking the students to spell "esophagus," and the North Dakota students each covered an eye to spell "Mississippi" with "one I."

"That was really cool, talking to other schools," said Gina Tondolo, 10.

Shane Lutton, 11, whose paper airplane was deliberately shaped to go the farthest, said he liked making the videos.

The 15 Brookline students are in a technology leadership group, formed this year to develop leaders and help students go beyond just being proficient.

All must meet certain homework, grade, attendance and behavior standards. So just 25 minutes before the presentation began, one of the questions was how they would get the homework for the day.

The students are learning more than technical skills.

"I learned that when you hope to have something you want, you have to work and keep up," said Alexis DeWaine, 10.

You don't have to travel far to find other students engaged in videoconferencing.

Just down the street at Brookline Regional Catholic School, students have done or are scheduled for about a dozen videoconferences, including one with students in Jordan for sixth- and seventh-graders and another with students in the United Kingdom for kindergartners.

Next week, some will participate in "Read Around the Planet," with two-way videoconferences with students in Michigan and Texas.

Brookline Catholic Principal Janet Salley Rakoczy said the sessions help students realize "there is something out there other than Brookline."