STEM Education at Oklahoma Connections Academy

Oklahoma Connections Academy gives PreK–12 students a high-quality online education that emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

STEM-Focused Learning

Preparing Students for Success

A STEM-focused education helps students of all ages develop core critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that will not only serve them throughout their education, but long after graduation, as well. At Oklahoma Connections Academy, we offer a wide range of STEM opportunities, including our Mobile STEM Lab bus, designed to help online school students extend their learning beyond the curriculum and empower them to reach their potential.

Subject laying on Coach working off laptop

STEM Education

What is STEM Education?

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Our online STEM-focused program not only offers these four disciplines in specific courses, but also provides hands-on STEM learning experiences and integrates opportunities to explore real-world applications across all disciplines in the curriculum.

At Oklahoma Connections Academy, we make STEM-based learning a priority for students in every grade level and every course. Our teachers actively encourage students to explore STEM and deliver STEM-focused lessons that provide project-based learning experiences. These lessons are designed to spark elementary, middle, and high school students’ curiosity and to inspire them to explore the learning, research, and career options of these important fields of study.

What are the Key Features to a STEM Education?

At Oklahoma Connections Academy, there are 3 primary features of a STEM-focused education for students:

Connection

Courses for online school in Oklahoma are tailored to connect students with their community, giving them opportunities to think through local, real-world problems and solutions.
Spark students’ curiosity about the world around them and empower them to change it for the better.

Collaboration

Offer exploratory, cooperative, and immersive STEM projects and learning experiences that encourage students to express themselves and their ideas creatively.

Project-Based Learning

Provide student-centered learning that emphasizes hands-on experiences, including field trips to museums and zoos, business tours, and more.
Allow students to engage with professional speakers in fields that interest them.

Additional STEM Education Opportunities

Mobile STEM Lab

Exploration Station, our Mobile STEM Lab bus, is designed to increase STEM access to our students and tie together their virtual learning with hands-on experience. Equipped with labware learning kits, and more, the bus puts science into the hands of Oklahoma Connections Academy students across the state and encourages them to participate in their local science fairs.

With Exploration Station, we hope to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, innovators, and more to solve local and global challenges of today and the future.

Hear more about Oklahoma Connections Academy's STEM lab bus from high school assistant principal, Jennifer Dewar!

Immersive STEM with Virtual Reality

School-supplied Meta Quest and Pico 4 headsets are available for students to use, whether on the Lab Bus or during scheduled Virtual Reality (VR) field trip days. These devices support Prisms VR and various STEM activities that enrich and aid learning.

Prisms VR is an interactive, research-based virtual reality program designed for middle and high school students to deepen understanding of math concepts by allowing them to explore topics like ratios, proportions, area, volume, and geometry in a hands-on, 3D environment. With VR headsets, students can visualize and explore mathematical ideas, making abstract concepts more concrete while supporting traditional instruction. This approach helps students see the reasoning behind formulas, stay engaged, and build confidence in their problem-solving skills.