SXSW Interactives’ Sixth Street Showcase hosted by the University of Texas System featured H2O’s interactive STEM education technology for enhancing student learning about water and the environment.
The Showcase was held to give a sneak peek to cutting-edge technologies that students and faculty members at the state’s higher education institutions are developing. Participating universities included Texas State University, UT Austin, UT San Antonio, UT Health Science Center-San Antonio, UT Health Science Center-Tyler, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University. http://utfactsonline.wordpress.com/tag/sxsw-sixth-street-showcase/
Dr. Rudolph Rosen presented information about H2O to Showcase attendees, including students, university faculty, venture capitalists and industry representatives. In addition to a run-down of H2O’s accomplishments and impressive array of interactive, multi-media, and low-cost technology enhancements to education, Dr. Rosen discussed making education technology accessible.
According to Dr. Rosen, “For new technology to be effective it needs to be used by teachers, and for teachers to use new technology it must be made available in a context teachers can use. It needs to fit within a curricula actually being used by teachers. So the new technology must be something a teacher needs, wants to use, can understand how to use, and is flexible (and simple) enough for the teacher to adjust to his or her teaching requirements. It also must be accessible, and that means affordable and readily understandable.”
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H2O (Headwaters to Ocean) is a cooperative project sponsored by the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University and funding partner, the Ewing Halsell Foundation which supports the project H2O. H2O is an experiential, technology-enhanced education program focused on water, from headwaters to the ocean (https://water-texas.org)