case study PORTS Program Expands, Enhances Student Access to California State Parks with Zoom About PORTS Organiza琀椀on: Parks Online California State Parks is the largest state park system in the U.S., Resources for Teachers & Students – California State Parks with nearly 300 parks o昀昀ering o昀昀er a wealth of natural and cultural resources to residents within the state and beyond. But access to Founded: 2003 these parks can be limited for many people, including students. Industry: Educa琀椀on and recrea琀椀on California State Parks began an ini琀椀a琀椀ve more than 15 years ago dedicated to providing video access to its resources and bringing the Mission: Enhance California State experience to the classroom. The distance learning program, called Park access for students and Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students (PORTS), uses schools through interac琀椀ve digital interac琀椀ve video conferencing to o昀昀er virtual 昀椀eld trips and assist experiences K-12 educators in teaching students about California’s state parks. Solu琀椀on: Zoom Mee琀椀ngs, Zoom The best part: The PORTS program is commi琀琀ed to providing these Video Webinars virtual learning opportuni琀椀es at no cost to schools and educators. Doing so means PORTS must leverage reliable, a昀昀ordable tools to create engaging, repeatable, and scalable experiences. California State Parks Challenge By the numbers Brad Krey is the program manager for California State Parks and 280 state parks recognizes just how valuable classroom 琀椀me is. He says the PORTS 340 miles of coastline program is a way to expand tradi琀椀onal classroom walls without having 970 miles of lake and river frontage to coordinate school schedules, pay for buses and transporta琀椀on, and obtain the required parental consent. 15,000 campsites 4,500 miles of trails “While we’d certainly love for every student to visit a California state park as part of their educa琀椀on experience, the reality is that with over 67 million visitors annually 6 million students enrolled in K-12 public schools in California alone, we don’t have the capacity to accommodate, let alone educate, that many students in person, in our parks,” Krey said. “We’ve seen a shi昀琀 "With Zoom, we do a lot less toward more collabora琀椀ve learning as we move away from textbooks troubleshoo琀椀ng, and that's and as newer, savvier teachers use technology as part of their K-12 curriculums. And PORTS has embraced the opportunity to create a big deal for teachers who modern, interac琀椀ve learning experiences for students through video.” have limited IT sta昀昀 to help Krey described how the PORTS program used to be primarily a green with connec琀椀on issues." screen opera琀椀on, with a few of the parks employing chroma-key - Jennifer Langer studios. One challenge PORTS was ini琀椀ally looking to solve through PORTS program coordinator these e昀昀orts was providing access to remote park resources. For

instance, team members would broadcast live web camera Result video of elephant seals on Año Nuevo Island o昀昀 the The PORTS program uses Zoom’s uni昀椀ed communica琀椀ons California coast or record footage in desolate loca琀椀ons in pla琀昀orm to ensure students are able to interact with the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, where it’s too hot to park professionals and access California state parks in a be outside all day for live programs. They also would record meaningful — and totally free — way. In 2019 alone, the unique interviews with experts, curate images, and mix it all PORTS team will put on 2,000 individual presenta琀椀ons from into the chroma-key to run a program with students. 15 state parks for 75,000 students, about 65% of them in California. “Because everything has gone mobile, it changed our approach. We realized program delivery could be simpli昀椀ed “That’s a 25% increase from the year before,” Krey said. and less resource-intensive,” Krey said. “We wanted to “We just couldn’t do what we do without partnerships like expand on our original concept to create engaging digital Zoom.” content featuring real-琀椀me access to more of our park PORTS Program Coordinator Jennifer Langer works directly resources.” with school districts, teachers, and IT administrators to ensure success on the classroom end and provide best- Solu琀椀on prac琀椀ces to engage students. She describes how easy-to- Krey and his team rely heavily on Zoom to expand access use technology like Zoom has removed many barriers to and enhance the rela琀椀onships students can have with the adop琀椀on in the classroom. California State Parks system and its expert sta昀昀. “The teachers are already familiar with the Zoom pla琀昀orm “We believe video provides access to state parks,” Krey said. and are very recep琀椀ve to it, and they’re thrilled with how “We’re always trying to push communica琀椀ons and outreach easy it is to connect,” she said. “With Zoom, we do a lot less in educa琀椀on, and we use the best tools available to create troubleshoo琀椀ng, and that’s a big deal for teachers who have engaging digital access. In the last decade or so, we've been limited IT sta昀昀 to help with connec琀椀on issues.” using video conferencing out in the 昀椀eld and use Zoom on every device — iPads, Surface Pro tablets, iPhones, and Krey says the PORTS program will con琀椀nue to provide Androids.” the most realis琀椀c, engaging ways to bring content from a California state park into the classroom. With Zoom, PORTS can provide live learning experiences with on-site park interpreters, prepare concise video “We’re doing some pre琀琀y far-out stu昀昀 right now, like messages to share with students before and a昀琀er a 昀椀eld curated VR content delivery through Google Expedi琀椀ons,” trip to a park, and o昀昀er unique educa琀椀onal opportuni琀椀es, he said. “And we’re looking for Zoom be a possible proxy including interac琀椀ve experiences with divers naviga琀椀ng to feed live VR experiences into a few dozen headsets underwater cultural resources like sunken vessels in Lake into a classroom, bringing the most immersive opportunity Tahoe or one of California’s Marine Protected Areas. possible for students who may never have a chance to visit a state park.” The PORTS program also has leveraged Zoom for a social media campaign in collabora琀椀on with the California Coastal Commission highligh琀椀ng sea-level rise. California State Parks uses the campaign to showcase naturally occurring, extreme high 琀椀des to capture the e昀昀ects rising sea levels Zoom helps businesses and organiza琀椀ons bring their teams will have on coastal parks and communi琀椀es. together in a fric琀椀onless cloud environment to get more done. “We use the webinar feature to create broadcasts from Our easy, reliable, video- 昀椀rst uni昀椀ed communica琀椀ons pla琀昀orm for video, voice, content sharing, and chat runs across mobile devices, mul琀椀ple state parks along California’s coast and push it out onto social media as a means to expand our outreach and desktops, telephones, and room systems. Founded in 2011, Zoom is a publicly traded company on Nasdaq (琀椀cker: ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. our digital footprint,” Krey said. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom_us. California State Parks | July 2019

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