When?

[Rick Nowell]

However, every school has an area like that for a reason and I can imagine that teachers would want to share things they don't want their students to see (yet). I have the feeling that people might object to this because it has this 'closed area of the forum' feeling to it.

As far as I am aware, GZ is not a 'school' in the sense of classrooms and staffrooms. If people don't want others to see their materials
yet, then don't post them! How many teachers are about to put materials on this site anyway?- emails and personal messages should
suffice for now.

Having an educational section to the Forum is a very commendable idea, but I feel that it should be as inclusive as possible. People
should not be scared away, nor should they be brassed off by any hint of a two-tier Forum.

To what extent should materials be available? There must be countless video clips that could be useful for educational purposes. Should
we just put links, or have a more organised system by using software such as Moodle to have a distinct educational library where
videos, audio or other links could be put directly. This would need server space, but not a huge amount by GZ standards. Then,
anyone with a password could put a, say, video clip which others could then use. This would keep the main bulk of materials away
from the Forum, thus helping a clearer set of links: "Go here to GZ@Moodle to see a range of video clips that are useful." This enables
cooperative learning- people can put materials there as they wish, but as long as its not videos of Glastonbury 2009, a useful
library could be built up. Copyright is always a problem, but no-one is making money...Permission can be sought...All in the name
of learning.     http://moodle.org/

[Hanny]

However, every school has an area like that for a reason and I can imagine that teachers would want to share things they don't want their students to see (yet). I have the feeling that people might object to this because it has this 'closed area of the forum' feeling to it.

As far as I am aware, GZ is not a 'school' in the sense of classrooms and staffrooms. If people don't want others to see their materials
yet, then don't post them! How many teachers are about to put materials on this site anyway?- emails and personal messages should
suffice for now.

No GZ is not a school, but teachers using GZ can then share things the same way as they would at a school. And if they do want to share their stuff with other teachers but not with others, they'll then have the chance. That is probably done now by PMs anyway indeed and I think the zookeepers just want to make that easier for them.

But it won't be happening for a while and I can't speak for the creaters or the teachers they have spoken to, so the best thing to do now is wait for them to explain what exactly, when, why and how.

[zookeeperChris]

Hiya

Thanks for thoughtful comments, Rick and all, which I know the education team have been following very closely. Firstly, I'm glad that we have an area of open discussion for those who want to share or discuss the fantastic education work that already happens with Galaxy Zoo. One of the most rewarding parts of the last two years for me has been hearing from teachers who have been using what we're doing, and the idea is that this new area will help them learn from each other and for us to work out how best to help them. Clearly, the wider forum (and Zoo) communities have a lot to contribute here, and I think many of the discussions will benefit from the input of those who know their way around the site and the creativity that characterizes so much of this site.

There is, though, also going to be a need or a desire from some teachers and educators to share materials in a more private space, even if it's for something as simple as posting answers to worksheets (As an aside, my father used to work in a company that sold books to schools - they solved this problem by making the answer books cost ten times more than the text book, presumably putting them beyond the reach of any schoolkid's pocket money...). There are also different cultural expectations about this from different countries where we have users. At some point, we'll provide this too - but I hope most of the discussion will remain here in the open.

Finally, we're also working on part of the site which will act as a document/resource repository for education/outreach in the same way that you talk about Moodle. This should be ready sometime in the next few months.

I hope that helps.

Chris

[echo-lily-mai]

i’m not a teacher but i am a parent, parents can learn from how teachers are teaching too. There may be ideas, activities or a teaching technique that parents would find valuable.

i have to agree with a lot of what Rick has said, and also mention that i have learnt a lot about the universe on this forum being taught by young people who themselves must be students, who know a lot more then i do and show real enthusiasm for the subject . Surely this has to be recognised and encouraged.

You never know they may even have ideas that could help the teachers out! 

I remember thinking how brilliant it was that science was now an open area for everyone to be involved in. Hopefully GZ will not stray too far from its roots, and loose its cutting edge approach.

[Hanny]

i’m not a teacher but i am a parent, parents can learn from how teachers are teaching too. There may be ideas, activities or a teaching technique that parents would find valuable.

I agree, that's what this part of the forum is for. What you see now, will not go away anymore.

i have to agree with a lot of what Rick has said, and also mention that i have learnt a lot about the universe on this forum being taught by young people who themselves must be students, who know a lot more then i do and show real enthusiasm for the subject . Surely this has to be recognised and encouraged.

It is and will be, also on this area.

You never know they may even have ideas that could help the teachers out! 

Absolutely, that's why we have this area too!

I remember thinking how brilliant it was that science was now an open area for everyone to be involved in. Hopefully GZ will not stray too far from its roots, and loose its cutting edge approach.

It won't.

But the 'keepers are working on an area just for teachers to share things too, like Chris just said. So, even though we really do appreciate your thoughts, consider this topic as an explanation of what will happen.

[Alice]

Hi everyone, this is not "my" area but just my 2 cents' worth. Any dumb questions/suggestions I wrote earlier are no indication of what this is about or will/won't happen But I am pretty certain that the only things that will be kept private are things that strictly need to be, such as mark schemes etc. I hope this makes some sense

[Hanny]

And on those notes, we decided to lock this topic (for now). If you need to get something of your chest, you can always send a personal message.