Elementary and middle schools on four small islands off the coast of Toba City, Mie Prefecture, are being linked by computer with major ocean-related institutions around the city.

Named "Umi (ocean) Net Toba," the network will connect four elementary schools and two middle schools on the islands of Kamijima, Toshijima, Sugashima, and Sakatejima with four sea-related institutions in the region, including Toba Aquarium and a pearl museum.

The aim of the network is to help young islanders, whose access to museums, aquariums, and other facilities are limited due to their remote location, gain a deeper understanding of marine nature.

The network will give kids a wide range of information about the sea, such as the underwater ecosystem, the history of and techniques for culturing pearls, the history of regional fishing activities, and maritime navigation.

They'll be able to send questions by e-mail to experts at the institutions, which in turn may give the students homework from time to time.

One plan calls for on-line lessons to be given by the staff members of the four institutions. Such a lesson was carried out on an experimental basis between Kamijima Elementary School and Toba Aquarium in November 1997.

Eight school kids in fifth grade took part in the lesson, taught by Kensuke Takabayashi, a researcher at the aquarium. He provided an explanation of how the various types of sea creatures, which appeared on the students' screen, evolved into their current forms.

Images of both the teacher and schoolchildren were also shown, enabling them to "see" each other as they communicated through the computer.

"I enjoyed having a different teacher for a change," one student said. "I wish we could have an on-line class everyday."

Photos: (Top and middle) In an on-line lesson, fifth graders at Kamijima Elementary School learn about sea creatures from Takabayashi, whose face can be seen on the screen; (bottom) the home page of Umi Net Toba, now running on an experimental basis, is scheduled to officially take off in April. (Toba Aquarium)