Project Based Learning - Iowa Style

Iowa Public Television provides many learning opportunities, some of which don't appear on broadcast television. Iowa K-12 students use videoconferencing technology to make connections worldwide.

By special arrangement with Dan Buettner, of MayaQuest fame, Iowa students have been able to meet the explorers via videoconference while they are on other Quests. Imagine the power of meeting African natives directly from their villages, or seeing Jean-Michel Cousteau emerge from the sea on the Galapagos Islands and then asking him questions while he sits on rocks surrounded by iguanas. Iowa students have experienced those unforgettable moments while studying previous Quests to Africa and Galapagos Islands.

During March 2000, tens of thousands of students worldwide are taking part in AmericaQuest - learning about the American Southwest, and in particular investigating why the Colorado plateau was abandoned by its inhabitance 700 years ago. Each week of the Quest, Dan and his team set up their satellite equipment and make contact with IPTV so Iowa students can learn first hand what the team has been doing, ask questions and meet special guests. There is a great deal of excitement in Iowa classrooms as students interact with the team. To be one of the few to actually ask a question is a much sought after honor.

IPTV is documenting various aspects of this and other technology-based learning programs, and will join Dan and his team during their last videoconference, from somewhere in the southwest region of the United States. Where will that be? Follow the IPTV crew as they get closer to locating the AmericaQuest team.