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Teachers to use Online Resources in Hurricane Katrina Affected Areas
IT News Online Staff
2005-11-19

The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) Program Center, two of America's leading digital science libraries will hold free online workshops to familiarize teachers in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina with online educational materials that are freely available through the libraries.

The workshops will be held on December 6 and 8 for science and math teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms. Most of the schools that have been able to open are said to have access to online resources and the workshops will enable teachers to use these online resources to compensate for the scarcity of textbooks and other traditional materials.

"After an event like Hurricane Katrina, with textbooks, lab materials and even entire schools destroyed, online resources are critical for ensuring that students continue to get a top-quality education," said Russanne Low, director of strategic partnerships at the DLESE Program Center at UCAR.

The workshops will provide practical ideas for finding and using digital library resources. Instructors will emphasize strategies that can be easily implemented in Louisiana and Mississippi classrooms affected by the storm. They will also address methods for distance learning courses being offered to displaced students. Interactive sessions will include insights from teachers already using NSDL and DLESE resources who will share advice and answer questions.

Teachers can register for the free online workshops at the DLESE Web site.

NSDL also announced that in January it would begin launching free monthly workshops for teachers across the nation. Each workshop will focus on a different theme, such as helping primary and secondary school teachers and university professors use digital libraries for information about particular subject areas.

"Our goal is to assist teachers who want to find, as efficiently as possible, exemplary online teaching materials that will engage their students," said Susan Van Gundy, director of education and outreach at NSDL.

NSDL is America's free online library for education and research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. DLESE is the geoscience node within NSDL. The libraries are managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) with funding from the National Science Foundation.