ICN News

As many schools are cutting back on field trips due to budget cuts, teachers are looking for new ways to expose their students to outside resources. The ICN is here to help! Through K-12 Connections and other IPTV sessions, online resources to connect students with professionals or other schools, and individual virtual field trips, teachers can still reach valuable community, state and national resources without leaving the building or, in some cases, the classroom. Read on to learn more about ways to use the ICN as a less expensive and convenient field trip alternative.

Iowa Public Television (IPTV) offers a variety of ICN sessions that include every discipline and grade level. Sessions during this past year included encounters with Polk County and Warren County naturalists, Iowa Capital tour guides, experts at the Hoover Presidential library and educators from the Blank Park Zoo just to name a few. If you can’t take a trip to the zoo or the Capital, give your students the next best thing! Presenters often include real animals and other artifacts that bring the topics to life for the students.

In addition to these sessions geared toward elementary students, IPTV also offers Transitions and School to Career sessions for high school and middle school students. Transitions sessions connect students with various experts to assist with the transition from high school to college and adult life. In one upcoming session, students can join staff from Iowa Workforce Development to learn about employment trends and how the recession may impact the job market forecast. School to Career sessions connect students with professionals working in a variety of careers. This year, IPTV has offered a series of sessions specifically geared toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. In a March session, naturalists from the Dallas County Conservation Department discussed their careers with Bettendorf and IKM-Manning High School students. During the session, they discussed the habitat, nesting and survival of Iowa eagles and talked about other animals they monitor and study. As always, all IPTV ICN sessions are offered at no cost to the school and often include free classroom resources.

Several high schools have sponsored sessions connecting students and experts in Iowa and other states. In January 2008, students at Hoover High School met via the ICN with students in New Hampshire, another early voting state. During this session, students from the two states were able to ask each other questions about the caucus process, the differing results of the two states and student involvement in the campaigns. Students at both Hoover High School and PCM High School have had the opportunity to meet with Sen. Chuck Grassley in Washington, D.C. via ICN sessions. On both of these occasions, students participated in town meeting sessions where they initiated questions answered by Sen. Grassley. Further student reflection and follow-up questions were addressed as the meetings progressed.

During The Great Debaters session, Roosevelt High School debate team members, one graduate of the team and the Roosevelt debate team coach discussed the skills they have honed through involvement in debate. This session provided information and advice for those around the state interested or involved in high school debate.

If you are interested in any of the options discussed above, please check the K-12 Connections Calendar or contact Lyneé Casper. Casper is also available to help plan more individualized “field trips.” Please contact her for ideas or share your ideas with her, and she’ll work to make them happen. Schools can also work together on the ICN to share resources. Make every budget dollar count. If you are a K-12 building or have an ICN room nearby – be sure to take advantage of it!