| dc.description.abstract | Webinars for schools are an innovative tool, which helps to establish strong links between the
research and education communities by connecting schools to scientists working in various places in
the world. Webinars conducted by researchers allow to inspire pupils to engage in the learning
process and to better understand the role of scientific research in the modern world, scientific
messages and scientific language. They help to increase their knowledge about nature, geography,
natural resources, history, social sciences, and political sciences and to raise awareness about
environmental issues and climate change. They may also encourage young people to choose STEM
careers, so crucial for the development of knowledge-based societies.
One of the projects using webinars to strengthen science education curricula across Europe is EDUARCTIC. EDU-ARCTIC is an EU-funded project focused on using Arctic research as a vehicle to
encourage pupils aged 13 to 20 to pursue further education in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM), setting them on a path to careers in one of these sectors, or even to become a
scientist. Pupils participating in the project will have a unique possibility to get to know what scientific
careers are like and to learn more about different research disciplines while learning how to apply the
scientific method and also to learn crucial problem-solving skills. The EDU-ARCTIC project uses a mix
of different interactive, innovative tools to bring a fresh approach to teaching STEM subjects.
In the paper, various aspects of conducting webinars are presented. The author gave explanation,
why the Arctic and polar research may be used as interesting and engaging topic for webinars for
schools. Some advantages of this method were presented, but also potential barriers and problems,
which may occur while proposing and conducting webinars, were discussed. The results of
requirement analysis survey conducted among STEM teachers from secondary schools were
presented. In the discussion various initiatives (EDUSCIENCE, ERIS, Scientix) were also indicated as
a useful source of experience. The paper ends with a set of recommendations concerning preparatory
of webinars, conducting a webinar and some technical aspects. | en_US |
