ISTE and NASA looking for 25 teachers for project--Apply by Jan 8

ISTE is collaborating with NASA to find 25 middle and high school teachers who are creative and inspired, share an enthusiasm for space, and want to work with others to create educational artifacts for NASA’s 2014 Magnetospheric Multiscale Code 461 (MMS) mission.

Selected teachers will work together virtually within ISTE’s Cyber Café, an online collaborative platform facilitated by Ben Smith, physics teacher at Red Lion Area Senior High School in Pennsylvania and long time space enthusiast. Troy Cline, MMS Education & Public Outreach Mission lead and former teacher, as well other NASA scientists and engineers will join the Cyber Café for discussions and presentations.

The goal of the Learning Laboratory: Magnetic Space Project is to collaboratively create learning and educational artifacts that teachers or students can use to gain a deeper understanding of the mission and Earth’s magnetosphere. Each group will choose projects to create and design, but the chosen projects must be online, interactive, and have social media as well as a hands-on component. Final projects may be selected for publication on the NASA website and/or featured at the ISTE 2012 annual conference and exposition.

Cyber Café Details

• Kicks off on February 6 and concludes March 16, 2012
• Will take about 3 hours of synchronous, virtual participation and around 20 to 25 hours of asynchronous collaboration and homework
• Is facilitated by Ben Smith, ISTE Board member and physics teacher
• Features visiting scientists and engineers from NASA
• Submit applications by January 8, 2012

Applicant Criteria – We are looking for applicants who:

• Are middle and high school teachers in any content area, but we are holding spaces for art, music, or journalism teachers
• Have experience and interest in using social networking and social media tools
• Are interested in space and NASA
• Are available to participate virtually in synchronous and asynchronous project-based collaboration with other teachers between February 6 and March 16, 2012
• Are willing to work in virtual project groups to identify, design, and create artifacts for students and/or classrooms that help students learn more about the mission and the magnetosphere (the region that shields the Earth’s atmosphere from direct blasts of the Sun’s radiation)
• Are willing to test the artifacts with students and report back

This is an opportunity to collaborate with others who share your passion, put your creative and tech-savvy skills to use, build educational artifacts, and support NASA’s mission. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Carolyn Sykora at csykora@iste.org.

Submit your application today!