Educators are always looking for new and innovative ways to help get students interested in STEM. Slooh, a pioneer in providing live online telescope feeds of the universe and an NGSS-aligned curriculum for school communities worldwide, is introducing the next generation of its online learning platform to make space exploration more accessible and engaging.
The new platform offers a range of interactive, personalized, and student-driven learning activities. Students can design their own posters depicting their discoveries using Slooh’s autonomous online telescopes. They can also participate in independent study programmes focusing on citizen science, science communication, and workforce development.
The dashboard has been improved and now includes more educator resources such as on-demand training and onboarding films, live telescope feed situational awareness, and simple search and browse access to the learning activities. It is also easier for educators to assign activities, track student progress, and integrate Slooh with popular learning management systems like Schoology, Brightspace, and Google Education.
Michael Paolucci, the Founder of Slooh, said: “Slooh provides students, particularly those in Grades 4-8, with a one-of-a-kind experience centered around hands-on, age-appropriate experiential learning. From new learning activities to a more intuitive dashboard, the latest enhancements flatten the learning curve for new users and emphasize creativity and self-directed learning as students discover the universe’s wonders and collect and analyze astronomical data in real-time.”
The platform has expanded its network of observatories in the Southern Hemisphere to Chile and Australia, in collaboration with the Catholic University and the Southern Robotic Observatory Facility in Siding Spring, respectively. In addition, Slooh has signed a partnership agreement with SECMOL to build an observatory in Ladakh, India, in 2024.
Slooh’s mission is to inspire students, teachers, and all learners to explore space and foster global fellowship and citizenship. It wants to make sure all students, regardless of their location or demographics, have access to space observatories and the opportunity to study space and the potential STEM pathways and careers it offers.
The startup looks forward to supporting students nationwide and beyond this school year and can’t wait to see the different stars, planets, moons, nebulae, and celestial events they discover. With more observatories opening and an enhanced platform for learning, students sure are in for an exciting school year.
