Saturday, April 7, 2012

NASA ISTE Experience for MMS 2014

Have you heard about NASA's upcoming MMS 2014 mission?  The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission will be a landmark study.  The exploration of the magnetosphere is critical in the coming years, especially due to our heavy reliance on technology and high tech communication devices.

Educators tapping into social media have more opportunities then every before due to the power of social media as PLCs become interwoven in a fibrous manner.  As a graduate student in 2008, I recognized that information systems were radically changing the way the world conducts business and education.  The International Society of Technology Education along with NASA chose 25 educators across the planet to collaborate, research, create, publish, and promote curriculum on the upcoming MMS mission.  The result of this experience is empowering underprivileged students to Think Global and Act Local.  

During a short period of time, I along with my contributing team, Sandra Wozniak (a distinguished curriculum specialist) and Tom Chambers (educator, researcher, and former NASA Apollo contributor), created Take the MMS 2014 Challenge.  As part of this process we experienced best integration practices,  applied a variety of tools, connected with top experts in the field, and presented to a national audience on how to motivate students to think about our earth's magnetosphere, solar storms, and STEM careers.  Our team was exposed to many tools, and some of my very favorites are listed below.   


As a final piece, our group, Tom Chambers, Sandra Wozniak, and Jennifer Miller,  presented Group 2 showcase on March 27 in NASA's cyber cafe.  

We decided to involve students throughout this process and our students will lead a challenge to the world  during our MMS NASA summit on Thursday from Dublin, Texas,  10:30-11:30 CST and we invite your students to join us.  Please message me if you are interested.  

 Challenge based learning is powerful, and having students think about "real world" applications of the scientific method is impacting and sparking interest with students who are not top performers.  Challenge based learning centers on empowering the learner to influence change and is student led.  The experiences created are powerful for all stakeholders.







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