Abstract:

Webinars for schools are an innovative tool, which helps to establish strong links between the research and education communities by connecting schools to scientists working in various places of the world. Webinars conducted by researchers allows to inspire students to engage in the learning process and to better understand the role of scientific research in the modern world, scientific messages and scientific language. They help to increase their knowledge about nature, geography, natural resources, history, social science, and political science and to raise awareness about environmental issues and climate change. They may also encourage young people to choose STEM careers, so crucial for the development of knowledge-based societies.
One of the project using webinars to strengthen science education curricula across Europe is EDU-ARCTIC. EDU-ARCTIC is an EU-funded project focused on using Arctic research as a vehicle to encourage students aged 13 to 20 to pursue further education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), setting them on a path to careers in one of these sectors, or even to become a scientist. Students participating in the project will have a unique possibility to get to know what scientific careers are like and learn more about different research disciplines while learning how to apply the scientific method and learn crucial problem-solving skills.
The EDU-ARCTIC project uses a mix of different interactive, innovative tools to bring a fresh approach to teaching STEM subjects:
1. Webinars: Online lessons with polar scientists working at research stations and institutes. The lessons focus on natural science topics, polar research and why they are key to helping solve important challenges in society. The content of each webinar can be adapted according to different school curricula and according to region or country. Webinars are conducted in English and in a few other European languages.
2. “Polarpedia”: An evolving online encyclopedia that contains a glossary of scientific terms and educational resources in at least five national European languages. It helps teachers and students to prepare for their participation in webinars by providing short explanations of scientific terms used by scientists.
3. Competitions for European students and their teachers, in which winners will be invited to take part in the polar expedition and act there as scientists.
4. Environmental monitoring program: All participating schools in Europe will be invited to take part in a program to conduct environmental monitoring around their school. The program has a web-based interface allowing interested schools to report their observations in an open and accessible database. The database can be used as a supplement to science classes, most notably in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.
5. Teacher workshops and training sessions aiming at giving teachers the right tools to use EDU-ARCTIC resources and become ambassadors of the project in their home countries.

Keywords:

STEM education, the Arctic, polar research, webinars, online lessons, environmental monitoring.