Oklahoma Teachers Receive Internet2 Community Anchor Program’s Distance Learning Scholarship

Four Oklahoma teachers are receiving distance learning scholarships from Internet2’s Community Anchor Program (CAP) Distance Learning Scholarship program. The scholarships give K-12 teachers free, one-on-one distance learning programs for their class through the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC). A total of 38 recipients teaching K-12 across Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Oklahoma are being awarded CILC scholarships that will directly benefit more than 1,600 students.

“We are thrilled to be able help teachers provide their students with a unique interactive classroom experience for their students during the pandemic, regardless of whether their students are attending school in-person or online,” said Internet2 Community Anchor Program Director Stephanie Stenberg. “Research and education networks provide schools a robust internet connection for education and an unparalleled level of service, and we are proud to serve them. Congratulations to all the scholarship recipients!”

The scholarship program was open to K-12 teachers from a school that connects to the national Internet2 network through their state or regional research and education network. Teachers could choose from any of the over 1,900 professionally-delivered programs offered through CILC, all of which have been evaluated by teachers and can be sorted by topic or by recommendation.

Live, interactive learning experiences

Ronna Dunigan teaches first and second grade students at LeFlore Public Shools. Dunigan selected the “Snakes Action Science: Snakes Rattle! Snakes Molt! Now You Try It” program to allow the students the opportunity to learn about animal life cycles and grouping animals by different characteristics. “Most of my students live in the country and have had experiences with snakes, but I think it would be really neat for them to learn more about snakes and their specific characteristics,” said Dunigan.

Tiffany Robinson at LeFlore Public Schools requested “Pioneer Music and Dance with Charles Ingalls from The Sheffield Museum of Rural Life” for her first grade students. “I think my class will be able to learn more about early settlers and the pioneer life. They will be able to use this information to tie into our Ag in the classroom lessons, academic vocabulary and background knowledge for reading,” said Robinson.

At White Rock Public School in McLoud, Oklahoma, Melissa Newport chose “Meet the Pioneer Farmer – Charles Ingalls” to help her second grade students learn about their culture. “Learning about pioneer music and dance will be very beneficial to my students, because we live in a very rural area. Most of my student’s ancestors are pioneers in Oklahoma and other parts of the world. This course will give my students a better understanding of their culture and history,” said Newport.

Also at White Rock Public School, Mallory Tully selected “Science of Sound at Historic RCA Studio B” for her music students in pre-K through eighth grade and science students in fifth through eighth grades. “Due to the new implementation of science standards in Oklahoma, three out of my four science classes are learning about waves. Students are having a hard time understanding this somewhat abstract concept. I think seeing how sound waves are used in a concrete way will be incredibly helpful to students. In addition to teaching science, I also am the music teacher for our school. This would be a great way to tie the two together in a way that is meaningful! I would be able to connect topics from the talk to both our music and science classes,” said Tully.

Distance learning scholarship winners

The 38 scholarship recipients connect to the Internet2 network via one of the following seven state or regional research and education network: Connecticut Education Network, Iowa Communications Network, Illinois Century Network, KanREN in Kansas, NYSERNet in New York, OARnet in Ohio, and OneNet in Oklahoma. LeFlore Public Schools and White Rock Public School are both connected to the OneNet network.

“OneNet is excited for the teachers who received distance learning scholarships through this innovative program,” said OneNet Executive Director Vonley Royal. “We appreciate Internet2 making learning opportunities such as these available to Oklahoma’s teachers and students.”

Internet2

Internet2 is a nonprofit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research and community service missions. Internet2’s core infrastructure components include the nation’s largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework. OneNet has been a member of Internet2 since 1999.