NSF Award
9554344
Basham 95-54344 Support is requested for initial implementation phases of the Navajo Learning Network (NLN), a four-part project with the overall objective of establishing a single virtual campus linking all educational institutions within the Navajo Nation. Teaching, research and curriculum development activities will be carried out collaboratively by K12 as well as NCC faculty and students. A base level of connectivity between participating institutions will be accomplished utilizing the wide-area network developed by the Navajo Nation government that will connect participating Navajo Nation K-12 schools to Navajo Community College's system and out to the Internet. The Navajo Learning Network project team, together with trainers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, will provide training both on NLN and Internet access, and will work closely with NCC and K-12 faculty to develop a effective strategies for utilizing information technology as a teaching and learning tool in a way that is sensitive to the learning styles prevalent among Navajo schoolchildren. The planned information technology upgrade is necessary to provide expanded education and support services to the entire NCC campus system, and ultimately to all residents of the Navajo Nation, an area of approximately the size of West Virginia (25,000 square miles), covering portions of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Currently, over 200,000 Navajos live on or near the reservation.
