"Classrooms are still using 19th century methods to teach 21st century science, leaving students vastly under-prepared for the modern world and workplace."
-- Gene Frantz, Principal Fellow, Texas Instruments
The students at Ophir School in Big Sky, MT are in an enviable position. The school is located on the edge of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and on winter days the Gallatin elk herd can be clearly seen from their classrooms windows. The Ophir School faculty takes advantage of this spectacular location to demonstrate on a day-to-day basis that learning is enhanced when the tools of scientific inquiry are put into the hands of students. Ophir School students monitor local elk populations, assess local water quality, and track local climate using the same tools and concepts that are used by graduate students at Montana State University (MSU). We are indeed fortunate to have the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as a world-class laboratory setting where students can use scientific tools to explore the largest pristine ecosystem in the continental USA.
At the Big Sky Institute of MSU, we continually probe the question of how can we do more to make sure that students here at Ophir School and throughout the Yellowstone region are prepared for the modern world. Science in the 21st century has been transformed by two major trends: global connectivity and miniaturization of technology. As a scientist interested in global climate change, this allows me to use a sensor array about the size of a matchbox to monitor temperatures every 10 minutes on the most remote mountain peaks in Yellowstone and instantaneously transmit these data to my colleagues working on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. Twenty-first century science is about real-time data and global connectivity.
What do these changes in how we do science imply for the future of education for our students? In the past, we relied on a trickle down of technology from the universities into the K-12 classrooms where teachers were charged with ensuring technological literacy. Watching my 9-year-old daughter move seemingly effortlessly through a world of cell phones, MP3 players and virtual gaming environments, I’m absolutely convinced that students are ready to jump into the torrent of technology that is part and parcel of learning and doing science in and out of their formal classrooms.
University professors and K-12 teachers are now challenged with how to best provide the guideposts for navigating a world of global connectivity. And, the most effective strategies may not be in the places where we traditionally have sought such answers. I am struck by how global connectivity is present even in our relatively remote Yellowstone setting. My current favorite example of the global reach of our Yellowstone home comes from my friend Sally Plumb. Sally’s official title is Instructional Systems Specialist at Yellowstone National Park. That somewhat staid title hardly reflects Sally’s day-to-day work. Sally dreams up electronic field trips for K-12 kids populated by the usual cast of characters in Yellowstone (e.g., charismatic wolves or bison on the move) as well as the usual stuff of the computer gaming world (e.g., aliens, good guys vs. bad guys, and killer graphics). Sally’s electronic version of Yellowstone literally reaches out to the world: students from more than 130 countries have encountered Yellowstone through the Internet. Sally and her Windows Into Wonderland (www.windowsintowonderland.org) connect students, science and Yellowstone at a global scale.
Come hear Sally Plumb speak on "Global Classroom: Embark on an Electronic Field Trip" on February 22 at noon in the Ophir School Library. For more information, contact Lisa Graumlich at 994-2374 or lisa@montana.edu. And, for more on BSI’s collaboration with the National Science Teachers Association on this issue, see "A New Digital Divide: Emerging Technologies and America’s Classrooms" (or call Lisa @ 994-5320 to get a copy sent to you via "snail mail").
