instance, team members would broadcast live web camera Result video of elephant seals on Año Nuevo Island off the The PORTS program uses Zoom’s unified communications California coast or record footage in desolate locations in platform 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 presentations from into the chroma-key to run a program with students. 15 state parks for 75,000 students, about 65% of them in “Because everything has gone mobile, it changed our California. approach. We realized program delivery could be simplified “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-time access to more of our park PORTS Program Coordinator Jennifer Langer works directly resources.” with school districts, teachers, and IT administrators to Solution ensure success on the classroom end and provide best- Krey and his team rely heavily on Zoom to expand access practices to engage students. She describes how easy-to- and enhance the relationships students can have with the use technology like Zoom has removed many barriers to California State Parks system and its expert staff. adoption in the classroom. “We believe video provides access to state parks,” Krey said. “The teachers are already familiar with the Zoom platform “We’re always trying to push communications and outreach and are very receptive to it, and they’re thrilled with how in education, and we use the best tools available to create easy it is to connect,” she said. “With Zoom, we do a lot less engaging digital access. In the last decade or so, we've been troubleshooting, and that’s a big deal for teachers who have using video conferencing out in the field and use Zoom limited IT staff to help with connection issues.” on every device — iPads, Surface Pro tablets, iPhones, and Krey says the PORTS program will continue to provide Androids.” the most realistic, engaging ways to bring content from a With Zoom, PORTS can provide live learning experiences California state park into the classroom. with on-site park interpreters, prepare concise video “We’re doing some pretty far-out stuff right now, like messages to share with students before and after a field curated VR content delivery through Google Expeditions,” trip to a park, and offer unique educational opportunities, he said. “And we’re looking for Zoom be a possible proxy including interactive experiences with divers navigating 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 The PORTS program also has leveraged Zoom for a social a state park.” media campaign in collaboration with the California Coastal Commission highlighting sea-level rise. California State Parks uses the campaign to showcase naturally occurring, extreme high tides to capture the effects rising sea levels will have on coastal parks and communities. Zoom helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless cloud environment to get more done. “We use the webinar feature to create broadcasts from Our easy, reliable, video- first unified communications platform for multiple state parks along California’s coast and push it out video, voice, content sharing, and chat runs across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Founded in 2011, onto social media as a means to expand our outreach and Zoom is a publicly traded company on Nasdaq (ticker: ZM) and our digital footprint,” Krey said. headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom_us. California State Parks | July 2019