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September 25, 2020

Smithsonian Science Education Center Director Carol O’Donnell has been featured in an article by Salzburg Global Seminar for her transformative work with K-12 science education.

Through her work as a Salzburg Global Fellow and SSEC director, Dr. O’Donnell hopes to change the science education landscape by fostering the access of resources on an international scale. As noted in the article, SSEC and its community partners are diligently working to disseminate its content to educators and students across the globe to spark community change.

September 28, 2020

The Smithsonian Science Education Center partnered with 100Kin10 to help science education leaders understand the “COVID-19! How Can I Protect Myself and Others?” module during its Sept. 24 “Ask Me Anything” webinar. For this session, leaders discussed the best ways to encourage students understand the science behind COVID and other viruses like it.

100Kin10 is a national network dedicated to adding 100,000 STEM teachers to American classrooms by 2021.

September 30, 2020

In today’s increasingly digital world, 3.6 billion people still have no access to the Internet. Those without access are typically the most vulnerable: minorities, people with disabilities, indigenous and marginalized groups, as well as women, children and youth from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds or living in areas affected by conflict and violence. Lack of Internet access reduces paths to a world of information available online, and limits the potential to learn and grow, all of which contribute to the digital divide. Director of the SSEC, Dr. Carol O'Donnell, served as an External Expert on a newly released report from the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Working Group on School Connectivity. The report, "The Digital Transformation of Education: Connecting Schools, Empowering Learners" was released September 2020. The purpose of the report is to better understand the school connectivity landscape and requirements, evaluate the benefits of different technologies for different environments, analyze business and financial models, and identify suitable pedagogical content needed for digital environments to ensure inclusive learning.

October 1, 2020

View the October edition of the Smithsonian Science Education Center's newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/07068f64d5d8/october-909414.

October 1, 2020

SSEC’s curriculum product specialist, Hannah Osborn, has been featured in a Smithsonian Magazine article about an AI-powered robot, Curly the Curling Robot, who is beating athletes at their own sport.

The Global Classroom

Education Around the Globe: Creating Opportunities and Transforming Lives

Dr. Carol O'Donnell Serves as External Expert on Newly Released Broadband Commission Report

October 12, 2020

FDA's "COVID-19 Resources for Patients" page provides resources to help address questions patients may have about FDA-regulated medical products (drugs, biologics, devices) and COVID-19. As part of their "Additional COVID-19 Information for Patients" they highlighted "COVID-19! How Can I Protect Myself and Others?", a guide for youth ages 8-17 and their parents/caregivers developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center in collaboration with the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) and World Health Organization (WHO). The guide is available in 24 languages and helps students to better understand the current pandemic.

Do you want to field test a new module from the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project?  

October 14, 2020

Today's learners will enter a world defined by data. By the end of 2020, there will be ten times as many bits of data in the digital universe as there are stars in the physical universe. Already today, data plays a pivotal role in our homes, our workplaces, and our communities. To help ensure our youth are ready for a data-filled future, SSEC has joined our STEM education colleagues of "The Messy Data Coalition" as a charter signatory--a broad-based group of teachers, parents, professional organizations, researchers, curriculum and software developers, and industry members committed to actively and equitably bringing data fluency to K-12 classrooms and learning experiences nationwide. We aim to bring data education to one million classrooms and learning opportunities and 100 million learners in the next decade. As we do, we lay the groundwork for a future filled by communities of data-informed decision-makers and workplaces of data-fluent problem solvers.

The IACEE 17th World Conference on Continuing Engineering Education is digitally hosted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), on May 25 – 28 May 2021.

Keynote speakers include:
- Dr. Carol O' Donnell, Smithsonian Science Education Center
- Dr. Michael Fors, Boeing
- Berit Svendsen, Vipps

More information about this event will be updated soon. Registration opens on December 1, 2020.

October 17, 2020

Amanda Abrom, Global Goals Ambassador of the United Nations Association of the USA highlighted the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project of the SSEC as one of 5 examples of "Glocalizing"--teaching global problems through local examples. Abrom's states that, "Glocalizing is a new concept in K-12 education that is used to connect global and local contexts." It is based on global citizenship education and education for sustainable development and emphasizes that students learn about how they can practically apply sustainable development concepts that affect their local communities. Abrom's concludes, "In this way, students are more likely to take meaningful actions because they have an easier time grasping concepts that are locally and culturally relevant." To learn more about the SSEC's project, go to: https://ssec.si.edu/global-goals

Science is Cool is a series of free virtual unconferences by PocketLab. Since March 2020, ScIC has attracted the participation of over 30,000 science teachers and education professionals globally. Speakers and partners are businesses, scientists, innovators, and passionate educators just like you. We believe that continuing to educate and innovate is key to contributing to our communities. The Smithsonian Science Education Center will be presenting on Distance Learning and Digital Resources from the Smithsonian.

October 20, 2020

In this American Women's History Initiative (AWHI) panel, Dr. Shirley Malcom, Senior Advisor and Director of SEA Change at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, talks with three educators from the Smithsonian--Under Secretary for Education, Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar, Katrina Lashley, Program Coordinator at the Anacostia Community Museum, and Carol O'Donnell, Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center--about Dr. Malcom’s seminal 1976 report, The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science, 44 years after its publication. In the report, Dr. Malcom and her co-authors argued that the struggles to be scientists were greater for women of color than for white women or for men of color. The persistently low numbers of women of color in STEM in 2020 support this claim, and the limited number of teachers of color in STEM education (less than 1 teacher of color for every 50 students of color) perpetuate this disparity. Yet, despite progress in graduating more women of color in STEM fields, women of color continue to be underrepresented at the advanced levels in most STEM fields and do not persist in these positions for a variety of factors (Pew Research, 2018). This panel addresses question such as: What barriers existed for women of color in science when Dr. Malcom first authored her report 44 years ago? What barriers still exist today? What progress have we made? What tools and methods can educators and science writers like AAAS use to reach new audiences and inspire the next generation of women in STEM?

In "The Double Bind" panel, Dr. Shirley Malcom, Senior Advisor and Director of SEA Change at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, talked with three Smithsonian educators about her seminal 1976 report, The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science, 44 years after its publication. SSEC Director Dr.

October 28, 2020

SSEC Director Dr. Carol O'Donnell was invited to serve as a Expert Connect Member of the National Science and Technology Medals Foundation (NSTMF). whose mission is to build inclusive STEM communities across the United States. Fundamental to these communities are the significant, inspirational connections fostered between individuals who have received national recognition for excellence in STEM and today’s diverse generation of college and high school students. The vision of NSTMF is to be a driving force in creating a world in which the diversity of the American society is reflected in the recipients of all prestigious STEM honors, including future Laureate classes of the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

On Tuesday, November 17, the Smithsonian Science Education Center's Katherine Blanchard and Alexa Mogck will be presenting at the Minnesota Science Teacher Association's Conference on Science Education, providing a workshop on the SSEC's COVID-19 module for elementary strand teachers. 
 

October 29, 2020

The Smithsonian Science Education Center has released “Pick Your Plate! Guía Global de Nutrición.” This Spanish-language educational nutrition game will help teach students about building healthy meals while using nutritional guidelines from around the world. “Pick Your Plate!” is also available in English.

In the game, students will explore foods, music and currency from Argentina, Australia, Benin, Cambodia, Finland, Lebanon, Mexico and the U.S.

“Pick Your Plate!” is designed to be used at home or in the classroom and is aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The game is available as a website for desktop and laptop computers and can be downloaded for tablets and smartphones through the Amazon Apps & Games Store, Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Visit ScienceEducation.si.edu/pick-your-plate-espanol to learn more.
“Pick Your Plate! Guía Global de Nutrición” is made possible with support from Johnson & Johnson.

Home as A Place of Discovery

Homes are special places of discovery, abound with scientific phenomenon and engineering marvels. They are also places where student sensemaking and problem-finding are king; and intergenerational learning of science—where all generations can learn together (Lawson et al, 2019)—is common. A home is a place where anyone with a question can be a scientist.