Giving Compass' Take:

• The WeatherBlur project is an online learning community that helps students engage in citizen science, leveraging technology to advance place-based learning.

• How can educators have access to more tech that informs educational practices?  How is citizen science improving K-12 education?

• Learn more about the importance of place-based education. 

How do you know when your place-based education project is going well? One of the most exciting indicators is when students make new discoveries while engaging with experts and community members beyond the walls of the classroom. This has been a fairly regular occurrence among island schools in Maine involved with the WeatherBlur project, an online learning community designed to engage students in citizen science projects co-created with community members and scientists.

Over the past eight years, students have initiated annual science investigations and taken action on pressing local issues, including invasive green crab populations and microplastic pollution in local waters. The results have been impressive. New partnerships are now connecting students in coastal Maine with those in coastal Mississippi and Alabama to collaborate on place-based projects.

A mix of technology and inquiry is driving this unique approach to PBE. WeatherBlur is both a platform and process that empowers students in rural communities to design and carry out co-created place-based citizen science projects based on self-identified areas of interest. WeatherBlur leverages technology to extend PBE beyond rural communities through relationship building and increased collaboration between diverse participants including youth, teachers, community members, representatives from natural resource-based economies (such as fishermen) and scientists.

WeatherBlur’s results have been promising. Over the past eight years, more than 2,000 students and 50 educators have participated in WeatherBlur. Many of the teachers have continued with the project for five years or more. Formal evaluations of the program have found significant improvement in students’ scientific literacy skills in graph interpretation and mapping. In addition to academic benefits, there are potential social benefits for youth and adults alike. This type of learning can foster cross-generational engagement and advance the whole community in building social cohesion, which can be critical for rural communities.

Read the full article about how technology supports place-based learning by Frank McKay at Getting Smart.