#scichat on Twitter

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#scichat RE-STARTS TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012
Tuesday evenings at 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm Eastern Time
(1:30 am – 2:30 am UTC/GMT)

Jump to: #scichat currently scheduled weekly topics list


February 2012: The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education in the U.S., and its international arm ⎯ the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education, are proud and excited to re-launch #scichat on Twitter, starting Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The weekly chat is moderated by Dr. Jeff Goldstein (@doctorjeff), director of both the Center and Institute.

What is #scichat?
#scichat is a live weekly get-together on Twitter where a planet-wide community of teachers of science share their thoughts and experiences. It is a place where we can discuss science education in the classroom, and the state of science education at the school district, state, and national levels. It is also a place where we can share thoughts on how we best foster a scientifically literate public enabled to make informed decisions on science and technology issues that affect the entire planet, inspire and engage the next generation of scientists and engineers, and prepare our students for the high technology job market of the 21st century.

#scichat recognizes that teachers of science are part of a professional community of educators with an enormous wealth of experience, practical knowledge, and capacity to share. Through #scichat we can collaborate as an active, vibrant community where all opinions are valuable, essential, and welcomed, and as professional educators we can all grow together. You might even think of #scichat as a type of 21st century professional development where the collective wisdom of the community is shared with the community, and all participants have a sense of ownership in the experience. Shouldn’t these be the fundamental ideals of good professional development, and which can be enabled globally in the age of social media?

So take part in a Twitter chat — a #scichat  — and get ready for an exhilarating experience.

Where?
On Twitter, a social medium that serves as a water cooler for the 21st century, where participants (Tweeps) can share their thoughts, ideas, and common concerns planet-wide. With its power to promote conversation across national borders, and foster collaborative learning independent of geographical location, Twitter is a force for change.

When?
Tuesday evenings at 8:30-9:30 pm Eastern Time (1:30-2:30 am UTC/GMT)

For Who?
Any teacher of science that would like to engage in (or just eavesdrop on) professional conversations with their peers across the U.S. and around the globe. There is nothing like hundreds of teachers of science sharing a common and global social networking experience from the comfort of their computer⎯wherever that might be.

New to Twitter? Don’t Fear the Twitter Bird!
If you are new to Twitter, or have not yet participated on Twitter, not to worry, there is nothing to fear from the Twitter Bird. And the misperception that Twitter is just about announcing to the world what you had for lunch (we call them lunchies) is like saying that the sole purpose of eating a meal is to consume calories. A good meal is an emotional, satisfying experience that engages one senses and mind⎯and so is a “chat” on Twitter. It is internet 2.0 at its best. Internet what you say? Well, if internet 1.0 was about providing you connectedness to a vast library of human knowledge via, e.g., Google, then internet 2.0 is about connecting you to the rest of the human race.

For newbie Tweeps and Tweep wannabes, or if you’re just trying to figure out what all the Truckus is about (Twitter + ruckus), here’s a very useful essay at Huffington Post that addresses the nature of Twitter as a social medium and the power of Twitter for education:

The Remarkable Power of Twitter: A Water Cooler for the 21st Century

Using Twitter—The Basics, and Participating in #scichat
If you are new to Twitter, you might want to read the section below while your Twitter page is open in a second browser window. You’ll need a Twitter account first (go to Twitter).

Once you get an account on Twitter, you’ll see an easy-to-use dashboard that allows you to send and receive “Tweets”—each a typed thought in no more than 140 characters.  … What? You don’t think you can say something meaningful in 140 characters? Well, here are some examples on education, human exploration, social media, and Twitter from @doctorjeff—

In our classrooms, the experience should mirror the interdisciplinary
nature of life, and not the subject of the hour.

If humans were meant to leave our world … we would master the laws
of gravity and motion, and build ships to the stars.

What needs to be the core objective of 21st century #education?
Students capable of critical thinking on demand.

Twitter – it’s far more than telling the world what you had for lunch.
It is the most powerful medium yet devised, so get with the program.

DEEP THOUGHT ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN #EDUCATION: Pencils are
scary pointy. Too dangerous for students to use without supervision.

So when you’re on Twitter and you have this burning desire to get a thought out, or
>More

The #scichat Archive
We will be archiving each #scichat using TweetReports, where all tweets for the discussion will be downloadable as a PDF at this website. So if you miss #scichat, and want to see what you missed, not to worry, the whole conversation will be available. The archives are posted on the #scichat Schedule page.

Subscribe for #scichat Updates
Updates on #scichat, including new discussion topics, will be provided via NCESSE News posts here at the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education website. News posts are found at the top of the right column. You can receive automatic email notification of new News posts by subscribing in the right column. It’s easy to unsubscribe whenever you wish.

About #scichat’s Moderator Jeff Goldstein
Dr. Jeff is a nationally recognized science educator in the U.S. and a planetary astrophysicist. He has overseen the creation of a number of science education initiatives, including the Voyage program, which saw permanent installation of scale model Solar Systems on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and at sites across the U.S.; the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) that engages tens of thousands of students in real microgravity experiment design for flights on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station; the Journey through the Universe initiative that embraces a community-engagement model for STEM education and has seen involvement by over 200,000 students; the Family Science Night program at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum with over 50,000 attendees to date; and the MESSENGER Educator Fellows Program (MEFP), in support of NASA’s MESSENGER mission to the planet Mercury, that has trained over 20,000 teachers in Solar System science and exploration since program inception in 2004.

Jeff is a blogger at the Huffington Post, and his Blog on the Universe⎯dedicated to conceptual understanding at an emotional level⎯has a great variety of timeless essays that are designed to be used as lessons and activities in the classroom and at home by teachers and parents.

Of recent note, Jeff gave the keynote address to 6,000 teachers of science at the 2011 National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National Conference. Jeff  is also a featured speaker at the 2012 NSTA National Conference in Indianapolis.

Provided below is a 3-minute music video remix of Jeff’s keynote as a gift to teachers, created by John Boswell at Symphony of Science (or click ‘cc’ on THIS version to see Spanish subtitles).


 

Read about why the Symphony of Science video was made.

More on the NSTA Keynote Address Science – It’s Not a Book of Knowledge, It’s a Journey

Follow Jeff on Twitter at @doctorjeff

Some Dr. Jeff science education links relevant to #scichat: