The Texas Panhandle Distance Learning Project is comprised of twenty-five public school districts, local cultural institutions, and Region 16 Education Service Center (ESC).  A complete list of participating school districts can be found on the RUS Grant Schools page.

The Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) in 1997 and the Technology Integration in Education (TIE) grant in 1998 provided initial funds necessary for Region 16 ESC and the school districts to create the region16.net network.  In addition to providing the required training for the operation, maintenance, implementation and classroom integration, these funds purchased core equipment, computers, and video equipment, and established Local Area Networks (LANs).

Project Overview

The RUS grant will fund new mobile videoconferencing systems for those districts who requested them.  A videoconferencing unit designed for use as a mobile teaching station in a museum setting will be deployed at the Globe News Center for Performing Arts, the Panhandle-Plains Museum, and the Don Harrington Discovery Center.  Units with a modified configuration will be deployed to the following school districts in the Texas Panhandle, and all will connect to region16.net:
 

Canadian	Happy
Higgins	Highland Park
Pampa	Panhandle
Tulia

Types of Educational Services Proposed

The specific educational areas that will be addressed are as follows:

• live instruction through the sharing of teachers via videoconference
• videoconference field trips in all subject areas
• streaming content of archived videoconference sessions
• videostreaming content for curriculum enhancement
• digitally captured Region 16 ESC meetings, training sessions, conferences, and workshops for streaming or downloading

Community Needs

School district representatives were asked to comment on distance learning needs for their districts and their willingness to commit matching funds.   A general consensus from districts was the need to expand distance learning beyond the current level, which mainly focuses upon the sharing of classroom teachers at the secondary level and college dual-credit instruction.  District personnel desired expanding curricula offerings through videoconferencing and videostreaming, providing distance learning equipment to the elementary and middle school levels, and finding economical videoconference field trips.

Financial Needs

This proposed project will help offset some of the financial challenges of providing distance learning services to the school districts while keeping pricing for other services reasonable. 

Benefits to Rural Residents

The acquisition of portable videoconference units will be a tangible benefit.  By utilizing portable units, teachers can access programs, meetings and trainings in their classrooms or in their district without necessitating travel.  

Another projected outcome of this project for rural high school students will be an increase in the availability of courses that cannot currently be offered at small rural districts.  Additionally, these facilities can be available for adult education outside normal school hours.

Educational content via videostreaming will benefit all districts.  Teachers who currently utilize videostreaming content in their classroom instruction have seen increased scores and attention spans of their students.  RUS funds will be used to expand the current videostreaming library through the purchase of more high-quality content from additional providers.  All twenty-five districts in the project will receive this benefit.

Educational content via videoconference field trips will be another benefit of the project.  Increased access to high-quality and reduced-cost field trips will ensure enrichment of instruction for students by providing them with new, enriching experiences unobtainable in any other manner.  This takes them beyond the limits of the Texas Panhandle and into a global experience.  The project school districts that opted for this benefit are:

Canadian	Clarendon	Happy
Hart	Higgins	Highland Park
Pampa	Panhandle	PSP
Pringle-Morse	Samnorwood	Shamrock
Tulia