FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                    October 24, 2007

NORTHWESTERN RECEIVES GRANT TO FACILITATE DISTANCE LEARNING

            Northwestern Oklahoma State University has been awarded a $256,390 Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

            The funds will be used to extend opportunity for interactive distance learning in seven rural end-user sites and one hub/end-user site serving 3,219 students.

            The schools included in the grant are Buffalo Elementary, Byng Elementary, Davidson Elementary, Davidson High, Gage Elementary, Grandfield High and Snyder High. Northwestern will serve as the hub/end-user.

            These schools are located in five counties that cover 6,224 square miles, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. The project will help these schools fulfill a need to provide expanded course offerings mandated, but not funded, by the state of Oklahoma, to provide higher education opportunities in the school and community, and to address the great need for professional development.

            The schools will receive interactive distance learning studio equipment, equipment to allow connections to the end-user and to educational resources outside the consortium, as well as teacher and technician training.

            The network and training will benefit the communities involved by allowing provision of educational training, job instruction and job advancement opportunities to the citizens served by the school districts.

Schools will be able to receive high school level classes, university classes for concurrent enrollment, professional development classes for community members, etc. With the service, it will be easy for schools to bring in various virtual field trips from locations around the country such as Yellowstone National Park.

            Northwestern will use some of the grant to purchase additional interactive equipment to provide service to the distance learning users. The university’s Woodward campus also will be an end-user site.

            All the partners will be brought into the OneNet System, Oklahoma’s telecommunications and information network for education and government. It is a division of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

            While the system is designed primarily for educational purposes, it can be made available to business, health care providers and communities for use on an as-needed basis.           

-NW-

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