search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
Views & Opinion It’s vital we engage the next


generation of scientists Comment by ANDREW HANSON MBE, Outreach Manager at the National Physical Laboratory


As Outreach Manager at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), my day-to-day job is spent promoting STEM education and its importance to our next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians.


As the UK’s National Metrology Institute


(metrology being the science of measurement), NPL and its staff recognise the significance of getting people interested in STEM.


The last 100 years has seen an


exponential increase in science and technology. Despite this, in the UK there continues to be a shortage of STEM professionals, so it is vital to reach, engage with and inspire a wide range of individuals of all ages, which we do through our Outreach programme.


STEM plays an enormous role in making the world a better place and improving quality of life. NPL has many individuals keen to talk and share their excitement. This naturally spills over into enthusiasm to encourage others into the world of STEM.


The luckiest of us had fantastic teachers and role models who inspired


us and answered burning questions when we were young. Such positive role models often influence where we go with our lives and their diversity helps engage with a very broad church of people. Many STEM professionals want to give something back to the education system that inspired them, and NPL’s Outreach programme helps staff to do just that.


Who better to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers


than those working at the UK’s National Metrology Institute? Each of our STEM professionals can tell unique stories about their specialist area, from research to create more effective cancer treatments to superfast communications, and we have more than a hundred ‘STEM Ambassadors’ trained by STEM Learning. We engage at all levels; from messy science with pre-schoolers, hyper-enthusiastic primary students, slightly less engaged secondary school students (perforated with pockets of extreme enthusiasts) through to under and post-graduates looking at careers.


Alongside our STEM Ambassadors, I organise and participate in many events on and offsite: science fairs, school visits, open days, the annual NPL Water Rocket Challenge and talks at schools, colleges and universities. In 2019 we met about 80 thousand people through over 300 interventions.


The current global situation has required us to take a slightly different


approach to our Outreach activities. We may not be able to visit schools and run events in person but the need for, and enthusiasm to provide educational science resources is as evident as ever. So interactions have gone ‘online’. This May, NPL started a new measurement challenge series Measurement at Home. We’ve designed these challenges with the aim of creating a measurement community that ‘virtually’ brings science into households nationally and globally.


It is a pleasure to work alongside people who love their impactful jobs and want to share this with the next generation.


Virtual insanity


Comment by PHIL BIRCHINALL, Senior Director of Immersive Content, Discovery Education UK


Virtual is everywhere right now. In lockdown and socially distant environments, it feels like most things have become just that. From meeting loved ones to teaching our children, the real world has become a virtual reality. As a developer of immersive content and someone who lives alone, I have been extremely lucky to have been locked down with a VR headset. I’ve checked out areas for houses that


I was looking to move to by walking virtually in ‘Wander’. I’ve stood on mountains and enjoyed the view and the sounds. I have sat with colleagues round a virtual campfire and chatted to their avatars as if they were there. I even have a bit of a shoulder wrench from my daily exercise sessions playing tennis in ‘Sports Scramble’. It’s been a fantastic way to simultaneously leave and #StayAtHome. Virtual reality cured my virtual insanity. At the same time there is an apparent, growing requirement for


immersive technology to now surge ahead as we progress towards new normals and learning paradigms. I’m a passionate believer in the power of


technology to not just engage but transform the way we teach and learn. The answer isn’t necessarily strapping devices to pupil’s heads. Technology is a powerful agent of change, it’s frontier territory and it


relies on pioneers and innovators to create, adopt and importantly, take risks. When it works, this virtuous creative circle brings positive impact and we progress. The word ‘virtual’ refers to something that is almost but not quite the


real thing. Understanding this is vitally important as it puts ‘virtual’ on a sliding scale, with absolute convincing reality at the extreme end. At Discovery Education we have deliberately removed the word as a global descriptor for several reasons. Firstly, it conjures up that image of a pupil with a device strapped or held to their face and secondly, the word is applied to so many other areas. What do you see in your mind’s eye on hearing ‘virtual field trips’ or ‘virtual lesson’? Our work is focussed on developing immersive experiences, that encompass a range of approaches of which virtual reality is just one. What senses are we trying to stimulate? Why are we doing it? Is it better than more conventional methods? If the answer is no or it’s the same, then stop. None of us really know how as a society, we will witness or drive


change as we move forwards from here to more, uncertain times ahead. Technology should and will play its part as it has so powerfully over the past months. Immersive technology is not just about simulations or 3D environments. We must develop proper understanding of augmenting reality, of how we deliver virtual experiences and create sensory immersion. Immersive technology can and will provide new ways to help us with wellbeing, keeping us entertained in powerful ways and providing that all important amplifier to the learning experience as only immersion can.


20 www.education-today.co.uk


June 2020


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36