EduTech,
KAN-Ed, KANREN, MORENET, ONENET and GPN Hold Successful Distance
Learning Event in Support of Emergency Preparedness Week
On March 11, 2008, EduTech,KAN-Ed, KANREN, MORENET, ONENET and Great
Plains Network (GPN) partnered to present a series of interactive
distance learning events in support of Emergency Preparedness Week. The
events focused on the disaster in Greensburg, Kansas, where a tornado
nearly wiped out a small Kansas community. The event was originally
planned and organized by the Kansas Association for Interactive
Distance Learning (KAIDE) as part of a multi-day series of events and
extended beyond Kansas by the GPN K20 Education Committee.
Classrooms from the Great Plains region (Missouri, Oklahoma,Kansas and
North Dakota) interactively participated in the events via live
videoconference. Sessions included:
- Lessons from Greensburg: This session connected elementary
classrooms in four states with Supt. Darin Headrick of Greensburg
Schools who led discussion about this community's experience with
before and after pictures of town and school grounds in Greensburg
Kansas reflecting the devastation of the tornado and the efforts at
rebuilding;
- Information about the science of tornados and other "Monster
Storms" formed the basis for the session hosted by Amy Strong, the
Kansas Trainer for the Jason Project at Wichita State University;
- A discussion on how storm warnings are issued and the differences
between warnings and advisories by Dr. Kevin Kloesel, a National
Weather Service meteorologist from the University of Oklahoma.
The sessions, available via webcast from both the commodity Internet
and Internet2, were accessed by schools across the country - over 30
sites in North Dakota utilized the webcast, as well as multiple sites
in Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Georgia, New York, Utah, Illinois,
Colorado, South Dakota, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Alabama, Ohio, New Jersey and Texas.
To access the archived video stream GPN has a link on this web page:
http://collaboration.greatplains.net/wiki/index.php/Lessons_from_Greensburg
Contacts: Greg Monaco, Great PlainsNetwork, Randy Stout, KAN-Ed,
Bill Giddings, MORENET, Kim Owen, EduTech, Indika McCampbell, KANREN