Ocean Explorers: GIS, IPA, and Ocean Science for IT Literacy and Skills

Center For Image Processing In Education, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This project will provide 60 middle and high school teachers from the greater Los Angeles area with training in information technology and applications related to the study of ocean habitats. The Center for Image Processing in Education, in collaboration with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the Environmental Systems Research Institute, will work with the teachers and 200 of their students over a period of three years to develop and pilot information technology-based curriculum units based upon ocean study. The target population of teachers and students will be drawn from populations currently underrepresented in the technology workplace. The project leadership, consisting of scientists, educators and technology specialists, will instruct the teachers in Geographic Imaging Systems and Image Processing Applications during 8-days of school year workshops and a 7-day summer field experience at a Santa Cruz Island research facility. Staff and teachers will work together designing the curriculum units, which will be piloted during a 4-day field experience with local students. These units, following field tests and revisions, will be disseminated nationally through fee-based workshops.