days, I will be in lovely Albuquerque, New Mexico for the annual Association
of Science and Technology Centers conference (ASTC), along with 2,000 or so
of my colleagues from other science centers, natural history museums, and other science institutions.
It’s a really neat event, showcasing some of the best research, most
innovative exhibits and programs, and most vital issues and concerns in our
field.
Last year, I was a
participant, just absorbing all of this strange new world of informal science
education. This year, I’m able to
present some of the great work that our team at the California Academy of
Sciences has been doing in digital learning, youth programs and informal
science education in general.
I’m speaking or
facilitating in three sessions at this ASTC:
- How
to Build a Digital Learning and Innovation Practice - ARIS:
Mobile Design as a Path to Civic Participation - Hitchhiking
to Pluto: Youth- Designed Planetarium Shows
Read on for more
complete descriptions of each of these sessions.
Sunday October 20, 9:45-11am
How to Build a Digital Learning and Innovation Practice
Convention
Center, Cimarron
This workshop will
show how the American Museum of Natural History and the California Academy of
Sciences have successfully launched youth-based digital learning programs.
After hearing from workshop presenters, participants will split into small
groups, each of which will focus on one practice question for their digital
learning work.
Session Leaders:
- Barry
Joseph, Associate Director for Digital Learning, American Museum of Natural
History, New York, NY; - Elizabeth
Babcock, Chief Public Engagement Officer and Roberts Dean of Education,
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco - Rik
Panganiban, Senior Manager of Digital Learning, California Academy of
Sciences, San Francisco; - Katie Levedahl, Assistant Director of Youth Programs, California Academy of
Sciences, San Francisco
Sunday October 20, 1:00-2:15pm
ARIS: Mobile Design as a Path to Civic Participation
Convention
Center, Cimarron
This workshop
focuses on ARIS, a mobile development platform used by youth and educators to
study community issues, organize collective action, and design geo-locative
participatory media experiences. In the workshop, participants will learn
basic functionalities of ARIS and have an opportunity to create interactive
experiences of their own. Preregistration required. Limited to 20 participants.
Participants should bring their own smartphone and a laptop.
Session Leader: Jim
Mathews, Researcher/ Designer, Local Games Lab, ARIS/University of
Wisconsin, Madison
Presenters:
- Rik
Panganiban, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; - Chris Holden, University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque
Monday October 21, 9:45-11am
Hitchhiking to Pluto: Youth- Designed Planetarium Shows
Convention
Center, Aztec
Forget a driver’s license: how about giving teens their own
spaceships? In this roundtable session, three science centers discuss the
rewards and challenges of programs that teach youth to use planetarium software
to design and present original space shows.
Session Leader: Nathan Bellomy, Youth Initiatives
Coordinator, YouthCaN NYC, and Coordinator, Youth Programs Alumni, American
Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
Presenters:
- Rik
Panganiban, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; - Lisa Hoover, Chabot Space &
Science Center, Oakland, CA
For more information about ASTC, see http://conference.astc.org .