Media Advisory: Colorado State to Demonstrate Rural K-12 Network in Denver Oct. 18

Note to Editors: The demonstration is not open to the public.

WHAT:

Colorado State University and the East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES, will provide a demonstration of a year-old K-12 distance learning network in rural eastern Colorado.

WHEN/WHERE:

The demonstration will be 10-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, at the CSU Denver Center in downtown Denver, 410 17th St., 24th floor.

Included will be an overview of the system in rural eastern Colorado discussed by representatives from the CSU Denver Center, CSU Fort Collins, the East Central BOCES, and the Strasburg School District. The demonstration also will feature interaction with a K-12 teacher teaching over the Internet to several eastern Colorado sites.

DETAILS:

In 2006, Colorado State University collaborated with the East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services to expand and equalize educational opportunities for K-12 students in 17 rural Colorado school districts all the way to the Kansas border. The effort addresses the university’s land-grant mission to improve educational opportunities across the state, including the K-12 level, and fits with the state’s Connect Colorado promise to provide high-speed networking to rural areas.

As part of "No Child Left Behind" requirements to provide children equal educational opportunities, the network is designed to allow students and faculty in rural Colorado to participate in interactive video conferences and video classes. Colorado State worked on the project with several state agencies including the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado Department of Education and the East Central BOCES, which represents the 17 school districts.

Classes began in 2006. In spring 2007, nearly 300 students and a handful of community members took courses online. For fall 2007, 14 college-level video courses are being offered in such areas as algebra, economics, geography, English, Spanish, psychology and sociology.

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