TIOGA (AP) - High school students have been getting a look at career opportunities in electronics, with a project of their own at a gas plant near here.

Students from Williston and Ray went to the Amerada Hess Corp. plant east of Tioga as part of a distance education electronics class led by Joel Gustafson, an instructor with the Bismarck Public Schools Technology Center.

Tuesday's trip gave the students a chance to meet their online instructor in person. Gustafson monitors their programs from hundreds of miles away, through a software program.

At the plant, he distributed an electronics soldering kit so the students could try to activate a blinking alarm.

Fourteen students from Williston and eight students from Ray are in the class. Nine Washburn students also link online.

The program is coordinated through the North Dakota Career Technical Education program. It has four regional sites around the state, including Williston State College.

When the students finish the class, they will have sampled the basics of electronics, and it might lead them to a college class or even an engineering degree, Gustafson said.

"It's an innovative way of providing a class the kids aren't getting otherwise," said Jennie Granrud, regional coordinator of the Career Tech Prep program at Williston State College.

The Nida Corp. provides computer-based software and simulators. Participating high schools provide facilitators, and class time and space. Tuition is paid to the Bismarck Public Schools Technology Center.

In Williston, two or three students may use the software every hour. Their attendance and activity is recorded, and Gustafson can monitor it from Bismarck.

"It is self-paced," he said of the program.

It might begin with simple brief lessons about basic functions of electronics. If the computer remains too idle on a student's time, Gustafson can detect that, and the student will get an e-mail asking for an explanation.

Gustafson said the lessons come in simple texts with colorful graphics. As students advance, they will use a simulator to solve problems and apply troubleshooting techniques. The problems are programmed into the simulators for students to solve through special discs.

After a brief lesson, the students get a quiz. If they get less than a 70 percent score, they must go back and learn the lesson and be retested before going on.

Gary Spooner, a supervisor at the gas plant who led Tuesday's tour, told the students that many engineering companies offer student loans to help land skilled employees.

After the students soldered their alarm kits, Gustafson inspected. The final test came when he plugged the batteries in. If the kit lit up and made the right sound, the students had successfully completed their hands-on project. If it did not, Gustafson explained what went wrong, and the teams tried again.

"Every nine weeks, I want to do a career day," Gustafson said. "The next one, I would like to focus on a home theater-car audio sound system."