The Liberty County School System and Georgia Southern University have partnered in a research initiative known as Project ESCOLAR (eText Supports for Collaborative Online Learning and Academic Reading).
The goal of Project ESCOLAR is to improve science learning in middle school through the classroom use of appropriate, relevant and effective Collaborative Online Learning Units. The online curriculum features multimodal activities, evaluation lessons and eText supports (such as text to speech, pop-up glossary, guided questions, reading prompts and digital note-taking).
Project ESCOLAR will target students with learning disabilities as well as general-education students and will begin in October. This study, which will be conducted over a three-year period, targets sixth-graders for the 2014-15 school year and will follow these students through eighth grade.  
Project ESCOLAR is part of a $2.5 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Programs, and is a collaboration between the Center for Advanced Technology in Education at the University of Oregon, Georgia Southern University and the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study group.
Project ESCOLAR will develop, test, evaluate, refine, and disseminate collaborative online projects, which will help middle-school students with learning disabilities learn science content with online sources. A collaborative online project is a complete online thematic unit that provides project-based learning experiences for students with learning disabilities to engage in real-world activities and to work collaboratively to solve authentic, real-world problems.
GSU College of Education Goizueta Distinguished Chair Dr. Alejandro Gallard will serve as co-principal investigator for the study.
“Project ESCOLAR’s intent is to increase opportunities for students with learning disabilities to become 21st century innovators, to excel with the general curriculum, and to be prepared to succeed in college and careers through the use of Collaborative Online Projects in science. These projects, which are built in an electronic environment, will foster reading comprehension for scientific text and, ultimately, improve science learning and literacy,” Gallard said.
“The Liberty County School System is looking forward to the collaboration on this science grant with Georgia Southern University. We are excited to see the positive results for our students and staff,” said Mindy Yanzetich, executive director of LCSS’ Division for Exceptional Learning.
For more information, email LCSS Chief Information Officer Dr. Patti Crane at pcrane@liberty.k12.ga.us or call 876-2161.