Here is an overview slide show about E2C  [ppt]   [pdf]

Here is a slide show about E2C created by Carol Rabenhorst (Carroll Community College, MD)   [pdf  {Note: 7.8 Mb}]

Earth2Class: a brief history 

     The seeds of the "Earth2Class" pilot program were planted in 1998 when Dr. Michael J. Passow, a national leader in the field of Teacher Enhancement, created a weekend workshop series bringing together Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists and classroom teachers. For two years, these "Saturday Workshops for Teachers" allowed teachers to hear about the excitement of scientific investigations and obtain teacher-training materials developed by the American Meteorological Society Education Program.

     In 2000, cooperation among the Science Teachers Association of New York State, National Association of Geoscience Teachers, and the American Meteorological Society's "Maury Project" with LDEO and the Institute for Learning Technologies of Teachers College, Columbia University produced a pilot technology-infused distance learning extension of these "Earth Science Saturdays for Educators." Through the partnership with ILT’s Professional Development Associate Director, Kelly Corder, ILT’s Professional Development Manager and Instructional Designer, Cristiana Assumpcao, and ILT’s IT Manager, Frederico Baggio, the transition to a distance-learning "web-cast" model ("Earth2Class") enabled teachers in the North Hudson Electronic Educational Empowerment Project Consortium to become "virtual participants" in workshops taking place on the LDEO campus, even though they are physically located approximately 200 miles north of LDEO. Although these teleconferences ceased when the NHEEEP grant ended, Workshops continued on the LDEO campus.

   "Earth2Class" involves a collaboration of researchers at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, curriculum and technology integration specialists at the Institute for Learning Technologies, and teachers from the New York metropolitan area and rural upstate New York. Present workshops feature presentations by an increasing number of Lamont research scientists and staff about their areas of investigation, and are combined with a discussion of core concepts and classroom-ready curriculum units that are focused on the content presented.

   "Earth2Class" provides a unique synergy of specialists in curriculum, educational technology, and scientific research, but the involvement of the Lamont scientists is a key feature of this program. Their availability exposes teachers to cutting-edge research. The scientists also help the teachers develop K-12 curriculum linked directly to "real world questions." Drawing on the scientists' expertise, a teacher can show students how the science they are learning applies in the real world, as well as other aspects of the curriculum.

   The "Earth2Class" has the potential to increase access to a variety of such experiences through use of electronic networking, and two-way video technologies and what its future structure it will prepare teachers to utilize these emerging technologies in a classroom setting. This program will extend electronic networking, information access, and two-way communications to isolated communities, as well as to inner city students and teachers currently bypassed by the digital revolution. The Earth2Class model will significantly expand opportunities in science and technology available to minority and other students and teachers who might not otherwise have access to cutting-edge science, scientists, or knowledgeable teachers. 

   Participating teachers have earned graduate credits though E2C arrangements with Teachers College and with St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, as well as District professional development credits.

   In January 2004, the National Science Foundation awarded a two-year grant to Gerardo Iturrino and Michael Passow to conduct a "proof-of-concept" study of E2C, seeking to identify which aspects of the program can serve as effective models for similar programs at other institutions.