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WWT Ambassadors: Worldwide Telescope For Interactive Learning
WorldWide Telescope (WWT) offers an unparalleled view of the world’s store of online astronomical data. This free software weaves astronomical images from all wavelengths into an interface that resembles their natural context–the Sky–while offering deep opportunities to teach and learn the science behind the images. The WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors Program (WWTA) is an outreach initiative run by researchers at Harvard University, WGBH, and Microsoft Research. WWT Ambassadors are experts on Astronomy and Physics who use WWT to educate the public about astronomy and science.
In this talk, we demonstrate some key features of WWT and describe the results of a WWTA Pilot Study where volunteer Ambassadors helped sixth-graders use WWT during a six-week Astronomy unit. The results of the study compare learning outcomes for 80 students who participated in WWTA and 70 students at the same school and grade who only used traditional learning materials. After the six-week unit, twice as many “WWT” as “non-WWT” students understand complex three dimensional orbital relationships; and tremendous gains are seen in student interest in science overall, astronomy in particular, and even in using “real” telescopes.
Participants will:
- See a live overview of WWT’s features
- Consider how WWT can be used effectively in their own educational settings
- Learn how to participate in the WWT Ambassadors program and contribute Tours to the WWTA collection.
- Be encouraged to share educational materials that can be downloaded by anyone on the WWTA website, so they can improve their science teaching.