Learning Technologies Reaches Out
Personnel in Learning Technologies have been reaching out to community members in Southern Arizona to expand our mission and share our knowledge with many groups. Here are just a few of the recent activities that we have been engaged in.
Sells
LTC personnel recently visited Sells, Arizona on the Tohono O’odham reservation to visit the site of the new Tohono O’odham Community Center, being constructed by the Tohono O’odham nation for a spring 2007 opening. The community center will act as an archive, museum and cultural showcase. Exhibit space in the center will provide for showcasing tribal arts and crafts and tribal elders will have a place to record native oral histories. The design firm for the building is Durrant Architects and the exhibit gallery is designed by Ganymede Design Group. Curator Eric Kaldahl is interested in working with the LTC to enhance the technological capabilities of the center. See several QTVR movies of the facility.
Kartchner Caverns
Bob Casavant, the director of Kartchner Caverns recently contacted LTC personnel concerning a possible collaboration between the UA and the State Park. LTC personnel, along with Arturo Baez of the campus green houses, visited with Kartchner Caverns staff and brainstormed our first ideas on possible projects. We are collaboratively looking for k-12 partners where we can recruit k-12 educators and students to use the state park as an interactive teaching environment. One possibility is that students can use podcasting technology to create learning modules accessible by other students. Remote monitoring systems are being considered as tools to monitor conditions in remote parts of the caverns. This project is being looked at as a pilot for projects that could be put in place in other Arizona state parks. You can see QTVR movies of the cavern at: qtvr.arizona.edu/work/kartchner/kartchner.html.
TUSD
LTC and CERCLL staff are discussing with TUSD administrators a collaboration to enhance language teaching skills in the K-12 environment. With the CERCLL emphasis on the teaching of less commonly taught languages, TUSD is interested in using distance education technology to allow more TUSD students to access language instruction. LTC staff are working with TUSD to secure grant funding for K-12 instructor workshops focusing on the use of technology to enhance instruction.
Mars
LTC has been contracted by the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab to work with the images being beamed back from the Mars satellite imaging project. LTC will help to develop the web-based interface that will allow anyone with an internet connection to access and download the Mars satellite images. Images can then be incorporated into teaching modules by any teacher on the planet (Earth).
NEH Grant with Jacqueline Chanda
The LTC, working with Dr. Jacqueline Chanda of Fine Arts, has recently submitted a grant request to the National Endowment for the Humanities to update and enhance a CD-ROM developed by Dr. Chanda. The CD was developed by Dr. Chanda to provide an instructional supplement to assist teachers teaching art history and art analysis.
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