Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Louisiana Tech lands DOE grant for cyberspace instruction

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Louisiana Tech University a $951,000 grant to support interdisciplinary cyberspace and science education programs throughout northern Louisiana.

Dr. Galen Turner, associate professor of mathematics and associate dean of graduate studies for Tech’s College of Engineering and Science, has worked with professors from a number of different disciplines on the Tech campus to develop Cyber K-12: Building a foundation for cyber education in North Louisiana.

Cyber K-12 will provide professional development opportunities for K-12 educators throughout northern Louisiana, yielding an increased number of teachers who will gain insight into our nation’s cyber challenges. The project is a product of Louisiana Tech’s STEM Talent Expansion Program and builds upon a strong collaborative partnership with the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City.

“This project will help advance Tech’s cyberspace initiatives by further developing the high school professional development model produced by our engineering and science faculty over the past few years,” says Turner.

“Cyber K-12 has also led to the recently approved Integrated STEM Education Research Center (ISERC) housed in the College of Engineering and Science. This Department of Education grant will be pivotal in continuing to advance the university as a leader in STEM education in North Louisiana.”

The strength of Cyber K-12 is rooted in Louisiana Tech’s highly-interdisciplinary approach to cyber education. The Cyber Discovery Summer Camp, for example, is a collaborative between Tech and the CIC that exposes student and teachers to the technological, social, political and historical aspects of cyber.

“It shows students how life is interconnected and that they must pay attention to all of the issues surrounding the real problems that we face as a society,” says Turner.

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