Archive for December, 2007

2008 Winter Institute

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Lori Johnson
on December 5, 2007
in Announcements and Winter Institute
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2008 Winter Institute
Come learn and share with educators who are transforming their schools and districts into high performing, technology-rich professional learning communities at the K20 Center’s Winter Institute.
Sponsored in partnership with the Oklahoma Education and Technology Trust (OETT) and the University of Oklahoma, the event is Thursday, January 31, 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. at the University of Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Winter Institute includes breakout sessions featuring Oklahoma educators and administrators from the OK-ACTS network sharing ideas and successes encountered in the process of creating technology-rich learning communities at the university, school, and community levels.

Alan November, teacher and senior partner of November Learning, is the key note speaker for the Nancy O’Brian Lecture Series. November is noted for challenging educators’ thoughts about possibilities in the world of teaching and learning that can be opened up through the use of technology.

To a submit a proposal to present at the Winter Institute, click here. Proposals will be accepted until December 15th.
To register to attend Winter Institute click here. Registration opens November 12th, late fees are applied after January 25.
For more information about Winter Institute click here, or contact Jean Cate, (405) 325-1267, jcate@ou.edu.

2008 Pre-Institute

The annual Pre-Institute will be held on Wednesday, January 30 from 9 am - 4 pm at the J.D. McCarty Center in Norman. The Pre-Institute involves teams of teachers and administrators from 2007 Phase II grant schools, Science PDI schools, and Ardmore Science schools. Administrators may access the application for the Pre-Institute here.

School Leaders Take Learning to New Level

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Lori Johnson
on December 5, 2007
in Leadership
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Superintendents and principals from around the state recently participated in the K20 Center’s OK-ACTS Leadership program; a year-long professional development program which teaches educators how to lead educational change and integrate technology in their school. This leadership class marks the 27th class, bringing the number of graduates to nearly 1,200.

School leaders from 17 school districts including: Ada, Apache, Ardmore, Choctaw, Copan, Eagletown, Enid Lawton, Marietta, Midwest City, Moore, Norman, Oklahoma City, Okmulgee, Purcell, Sulphur, and Wynona, began their initial leadership session at the K20 Center facility on OU’s Research Campus. The session included a two-day professional development seminar, enhanced with technology training. Throughout the year participants will meet for smaller follow-up sessions, review staff technology assessments, develop action plans for their schools and participate in school networking. In addition to learning how to develop professional learning communities and use technology in all phases of learning, each participant received a laptop.

The Cyber Carrot
While the K20 Center integrates technology into all components of the program, it is not the basis of the K20 Center model but rather a "cyber carrot" to entice schools to participate in innovative learning.

"Technology is such a need in all schools, particularly rural schools," said Jean Cate, associate director, Research and Academic Programs. "If we can meet those needs and change the old concept of education, then we have accomplished two goals. Technology meets the immediate need while the paradigm shift in learning meets the lasting need."

The success of this philosophy is evident in Glenwood Elementary’s Principal James Rainey and other participant’s evaluation responses. When asked why they wanted to participate in the K20 Leadership Program, the number one response was "to learn more about technology and how to implement it in our school." After the two-day session, participants were asked what skills or knowledge was gained from the program; responses focused more on professional learning communities and authentic learning.

"I signed up to further my professional knowledge of technology and proper integration, said Rainey. "In the end I learned very practical ways to impact learning in the classroom and affect my community."

The success of this philosophy was also evident to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who funded the leadership program in the early years. In 2004, the program was ranked third nationally out of 50 state programs funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The First of Phase of Innovation
The Leadership program is the first phase of four in the K20 Center’s model for whole school, or systemic, change in their schools. After successful completion of the leadership program, leaders can apply for K20 Center’s additional leadership development and technology programs, and grants to support change. Continuing phases of the K20 Center’s innovative learning model include whole school professional development and technology; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professional development; and student engagement. Every phase of the K20 Center model is embedded with technology and technology instruction.

The K20 Center Leadership program is funded by the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust with additional funding from the Oklahoma state legislature. To see a map of all K20 Center schools click here.

K20 Center Brings Gaming to the Classroom

Published
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Lori Johnson
on December 5, 2007
in STAR Schools
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Gaming is often a love/hate word among families these days. More specifically, kids love playing them and parents hate the amount of time their children spend playing them. But what if you could harness that digital fascination with games that increase student knowledge in several core subjects? That is precisely what the K20 Center is doing with its own online game, McLarin’s Adventure.

According to a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2005), children, ages 8 to 18, spend more time (44.5 hours per week) in front of computer, television, and game screens than any other activity in their lives except sleeping. Imagine if those kids spent that same amount of time studying core subjects or researching topics in science, technology, engineering and math?

That is where trillionaire Jonathon McLarin can help. The K20 Center, under the direction of Scott Wilson, associate director, STAR Schools Project and his digital gaming team, has created McLarin’s Adventure, an online game that challenges students’ science, literacy, and math skills to gain a seat on McLarin’s next exploration team.

UMPCMcLarin’s Adventure is set in a survivor story mode where gamers explore an uninhabited, uncharted island to test their skills at finding necessary resources. Through a series of tasks, student teams must work together to apply math, bioscience, geography and geology to maneuver through the game. McLarin will send the winning team into outer space to explore colonization of other planets.

While the kids perceive McLarin’s Adventure as a way to play online games with other kids in school, it is really a learning tool called digital game-based learning.
Digital game-based learning combines school content with computer games to engage students in authentic, or hands-on discovery, learning. It is designed to balance subject matter with game play to enhance the player’s ability to retain and apply subject matter to the real world.

While online gaming is not a new concept, digital game-based learning as an educational tool is still in the research phase. There are only six research centers in the US, including the K20 Center, that are working on digital game-based learning; and the K20 Center is the only center that built the gaming engine as well as the game.

To help students’ access the online game the K20 Center gave each school ultra mobile personal computers (UMPC) preloaded with Microsoft office. In addition to playing McLarin’s Adventure online, students have the ability to use the UMPCs for homework and other computer tasks. By the end of this year seven urban and rural schools in Oklahoma will receive more than 1,400 UMPCs.

Funded by a three-year grant from the U. S. Department of Education, the K20 Center’s digital game-based learning program is designed to benefit the student, school and research. While the students are busy applying physics to map an unchartered island, or using other sciences to advance their avatar, teachers can monitor each student’s progress online and see what subject areas need further instruction.

Preliminary research on virtual worlds has shown that kids engage deeply in virtual environments, gaining a conceptual understanding of school subjects. And since many kids are already comfortable online, educationally-oriented virtual worlds could offer a huge potential to aid learning. This information coupled with data regarding the success of digital game-based learning could give researchers a detailed blueprint on how to create America’s next generation of learning tools.

So while students will jump at any opportunity to play an online game, particularly during school, the results of McLarin’s Adventure could indicate digital game-based learning is a valuable educational tool and should be incorporated into school curriculum–a love/love proposition for kids and adults.

K20 Opens Doors to New Facility

Published
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Lori Johnson
on December 5, 2007
in Open House
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Open House
More than 300 educators, civic leaders, citizens and students from across the state celebrated with the University of Oklahoma’s K20 Center for Educational and Community Renewal at its open house on Sept. 27. The event marked the dedication of the center’s new office space at Two Partners Place on OU’s Research Campus and gave recognition to K20 supporters.

"This open house honors our K-12, university and community partners who have supported us throughout our growth," said Mary John O’Hair, K20 Center founding director, referring to K20’s humble beginnings.

The K20 Center began in 1996 as a small network of six elementary schools with an office in Old Science Hall - the oldest building on campus. Today, K20 is a statewide educational research and development center within the College of Education. The center offers 18 programs that directly impact more than 500 schools and 50,000 students.

"The move to Two Partners Place on the OU Research Campus allows us to better connect OU researchers with teachers, students, parents and community members," said O’Hair. "Ultimately, the move is designed to generate a seamless, high-quality kindergarten through graduate education (K20) system that enhances Oklahoma’s knowledge base, economy, and well-being."

The K20 Center’s open house began with remarks from Oklahoma State Regents Chancellor Glen Johnson, OU President David Boren, State Superintendent Sandy Garrett and K20 Director Mary John O’Hair, followed by a ribbon cutting and tours of the facility.

"This is a celebration of a partnership between higher education and K-12 education in a very unique way that will expand the opportunities for students all across the state," said Boren.

Boren credited the K20 Center for giving students "a glimpse of advanced education; an opportunity to take advantage of the latest technology-¦changing their whole outlook, their whole sense of possibilities about their lives."

Visitors were able to learn more about K20’s educational opportunities by touring the facility, talking with K20 staff and using the same technology the center implements in schools.

The K20 Center’s philosophy is a whole-school approach that starts with professional development of educational and community leaders and progresses through phases to the individual student. Every phase is embedded with technology that benefits the school. The process takes several years to complete, but the benefits last a lifetime.

According to O’Hair the whole school approach "provides a strong base to grow and develop cutting-edge interactive learning strategies that directly impact learning for every student, teacher and leader in Oklahoma."

Results of K20’s innovative learning strategies are already evident in the schools; for the past four years, K20 schools have consistently scored higher on the state’s Academic Performance Index (API) than the state average increase.