Direct to Discovery




About Direct to Discovery
Gold Line

"Through technology, Direct to Discovery is bringing researchers and
scientists into the classroom, opening the door to innovation and
achievement in a new way." -- Georgia Governor Nathan Deal
 
D2D Interactive Video

What is Direct to Discovery?

Direct to Discovery is a technology based teaching and learning model. It springs from a research partnership between the Barrow County School System and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The project is essentially a long term investigation into the potential of evolving collaborative communications technologies to affect workgroups, research and education. D2D is designed specifically to address the educational component of this investigation.

The Direct to Discovery Program (D2D) was founded on the hypothesis that a substantial increase in student engagement brings an increase in student interest and performance. Toward that end, D2D connects teachers and students in their classrooms with scientists in Georgia’s front line research labs in disciplines as diverse as aerospace, nanotechnology and biochemistry.

D2D leverages Peachnet, Georgia’s dedicated research and education network, and Internet2 to create a state-of-the-art teaching and learning community for students, teachers, and scientists. The goal is to increase engagement by connecting students in Barrow’s classrooms directly to scientists in Georgia Tech labs using HD video conferencing on 55” LCD monitors and computer software.

How does our network fit into this?

Six years ago our district switched our Internet service from commercial providers to Peachnet. Peachnet is Georgia’s dedicated, state run, research and education network that connects the bulk of the state’s colleges and universities together and also provides free high-speed access to Internet2.

The capacity of this network allows research universities to move terabytes of data between labs with as much ease as moving files to a flash drive or to a server. By stepping up our connectivity to university standards, we are able to peer with these universities without them having to simplify their content or down convert high definition media into low resolution files just to communicate with us.

D2D Events
Teachers
Researchers
Students
BCSS
Georgia Tech
GA Dept of Ed
PeachNet

What’s the deal with partnerships and grants?

Most of the school districts in America are operating on the slow side of the bandwidth barrier. Six years ago Barrow County Schools pushed through this barrier, and in doing so began operating much like schools will operate in the near future once the bandwidth barrier is no longer an issue.

From the perspective of web-based educational product vendors, computer and peripheral vendors and the like, Barrow is a prime partner. Why? Because their products simply look and work better on our next generation network than those still burdened with issues like excessive download delays, video jitters, time-outs, and constant buffering to name a few.

Over the years, we have leveraged the advantages our network affords to install half the Promethean Boards in our schools for free, positioned 600 computer tables in computer labs across the district at no cost, placed HD video conferencing units in every school at near manufacturers cost and many smaller projects as well.

In order to attract research grants, Barrow County Schools has positioned itself as Georgia’s first K-12 Research District. In this highly visible capacity, we do all the normal activities associated with running a top quality school district. But, rather than leave the issue of education solely in the hands of politicians and lobbyists, we participate directly in research projects that seek solutions to the challenges facing our profession from the classroom perspective. This of course brings us back to Direct to Discovery.

©Copyright 2012 Direct to Discovery | A collaboration between the Barrow County School System and the Georgia Institute of Technology