Slide 1

Sharing NASA projects have mail lists to which you can subscribe.

• These provide a way of keeping current with the project
• Keeping up with recent Q&A
• Provide a forum for discussion with other teachers

Slide 2

The different mail lists are:

• Updates
• Answers
• Discuss

Slide 3

The updates mail list sends you weekly or biweekly emails with:

• news about the web site including new additions to the web site
• opportunities for collaboration between classrooms
• news of upcoming events like webchats
• technical information about the status of a certain test or mission
• selected sample field journals from the team

Slide 4

The updates list are an easy way to bring real NASA into the classroom if you only have Internet access at home:

• One message a week
• Put it on disk, print it out.
• Coupled with email Q&A, a school even without Internet can participate.

Slide 5

To subscribe to updates Send an email to
listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov

In the message body, write these words:
subscribe updates-aero (for example)

or

Follow the link for Online Mailing Lists in the
Teachers Lounge and sign up for the lists by
completing and submitting the form.

Slide 6

The answers mail list sends you email every day a new question has been posted.

• Know all the answers
• Add to the body of knowledge by asking questions that haven't been asked.

Slide 7

To subscribe to updates Send an email to
listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov

In the message body, write these words:
subscribe answers-aero (for example)

or

Follow the link for Online Mailing Lists in the
Teachers Lounge and sign up for the lists by
completing and submitting the form.

Slide 1

BENEFITS of ON-LINE DISCUSSION FORUM

• Sense of community
• Most current information and updates
• Participation by experts and experienced educators
• Collaboration with diverse group of peers
• Spontaneous brainstorming/problem solving
• Opportunities to interact class-to-class
• Skill building results from sharing

Slide 2

EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF ON-LINE SHARING

• Integration ideas and teaching strategies
• Testimonials and concerns
• Questions and answers relating to technology concerns
• Related resources such as URL's, useful reference materials recent articles relevant to the project focus, contact names
• Grants and special opportunities
• Empathy and support
• Invitations to participate/collaborate

Slide 3

EXAMPLE 1: SHARING IDEAS AND STRATEGIES

Date: Thur, 12 Jun 1997 07:27:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jo Lynne Roberts
To: discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov
Subject: Successful Mars Landscape


Dear Friends,

About three weeks ago I posted a request for help in designing my Mars landscape. I thought you might like to share in our success story...thanks to our wonderful on-line friends in this forum. After reading the advice from several of you we decided to have the students make 8 inch by 8 inch scale models using red potters clay on top of hardboard. They began by making a scale drawing and then created their 3-D model. Our judges (principal, and two business people) had a very difficult time selecting which of the twenty models (done in teams of 4) would win. The final verdict was to use the basic landscape from one, adding a mountain range from another, us a design from a third group to hold up the scenery around the edges and use the art work from a fourth group for the scenery. The compromise reminded me a great deal of the final vote and outcome for the Hubble orbits! (Live From the Hubble Space Telescope project)

Five groups of students (6-10 per group) are making thirty minute presentations to other classrooms in the school and then bringing them to our cluster to see the landscape in action. Two additional groups gathered cardboard and designed a real size Pathfinder and Sojourner. They demonstrate for our guests how the space craft will land and open.

We are thrilled that the Science museum in Portland Oregon (about 20 miles away) wants to showcase our project this summer. It is planned that they will be on-line with Planetfest.

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement...this "miracle" project would never have taken place without both your specific help and your kind words. We are grateful...you have proven the power of this forum by making our project a success.

THANK YOU!

The Sixth Grade Explorers and Jo Lynne Z. Roberts Zellerbach Elementary/ Camas, Washington...the state!

Slide 4

EXAMPLE 2: SHARING IDEAS & STRATEGIES

Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 09:21:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Marg Freeman
Subject: Planning a Mars Night for families
Sender: owner-discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov


A group of 4 teachers is planning a Mars Night activity for families on Dec. 10. Any ideas to help make this a success would be appreciated. Also, we plan to have cross-curricular activities during the month of Nov. I need ideas suitable for 8th grade that I could give to English, Social Studies, Math and P.E. for them to have their students do. I have a few ideas but need some more suggestions. Thanks so much!

Marg Freeman

Slide 5

EXAMPLE 3: FOLLOW-UP ON MARS NIGHT POSTING

Example of Sharing ideas & Strategies (cont)
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 17:19:42 GMT
From: Marg Freeman
Subject: Mars Night is over
Sender: owner-discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov

Well folks, Mars Night is over. It was a great success - far surpassing our estimates of attendance and excitement. We had prepared material for about 100-150 people and ended up with about 500.

We are very tired and glad it is over - but give us two years and we will do it again. Many thanks to all the help from every one out there with your great ideas and sites to check out. One of the Dad's spent 3 hours doing video taping of everything that went on.....Now, on the Planetary Toolkit project!

Marg Freeman

Slide 6

EXAMPLE 4:ON-LINE SHARING "ORGANIC" COLLABORATIONS

Sat, 16 Nov 1996 23:56:17 -0600 (CST)
From: Ginny Dexter
cc: discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov
Subject: Re: CU-SeeMe network videoconferencing, Nov.19, LFM

Roger, Chris, Marilyn, and other CUSeeMe folks,

How about planning to CUSeeMe during the live broadcast on Tuesday, Nov. 19? Roger, do you want to plan the IP address? We tried to connect with your party Friday night but alas with the time difference, I think we were too late! I emailed Marc my interest in CUSeeMe-ing during the broadcast. Are you planning to CuSeeMe on Tuesday?

Ginny Dexter

RESPONSE from Chris Rowan....
From: Chris Rowan
Sun, 17 Nov 1996 09:47:28 -0600

Hi Ginny and everyone,
This is a very interesting idea. It will be problematic for me, though, because we have to take a field trip to a local high school in order to see the broadcast. I'd have to take the modem-equipped Dell desktop PC from my classroom and set it up. I'll need to make a phone line extension cord and get everything boxed and ready to go on Monday sometime.

I'm game, if everyone else is.
Chris

Slide 7

EXAMPLE 5: FOLLOW-UP ON CUSeeMe SESSION

Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 06:23:43 -0500
To: Roger Stryker
From: Marilyn Kennedy
Subject: CUSeeMe
Cc: discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov

Dear Roger,
Thank you so much for finding that reflector for us!! My students enjoyed meeting with the other students involved with LFM. They enjoyed sharing their impressions and sharing some of their projects.

They are creating their own class newsletter to the parents and the community about yesterday's broadcast and their CUSeeMe conference. We captured a couple of screens and today they will put them into their newsletter.

Thank you for going the extra mile for us.....CU soon.
Marilyn Wall

Slide 8

EXAMPLE 6: SCIENTIST/ EXPERT ON-LINE

Date: Sat, 05 Jul 1997 11:42:22 -0700 (MST)
From: Ken Edgett
Subject: WOW!
To: discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov

Dear Mars Educators!


WOW!
The Pathfinder landing and the terrific beauty of the landing site is EVERYTHING I ever dreamed it could be! Peter Smith was REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping we'd land near some kind of "mountain"-- or in this case, a streamlined island. WE DID! How wonderful for him and his team!

The rocks and their distribution is very, very reminiscent of the kinds of things we see in the Channeled Scabland of Washington. It is FANTASTIC! We are definitely in a flood channel! Marvelous!

Everything that has happened since yesterday's confirmation that the baby was on the surface of Mars has just been too cool to describe. I find myself laughing a lot-- just out of pure JOY!

Some of you might have noticed (maybe) that our Arizona Mars K-12 web site is down. We think our disk got fried by the zillions of hits we received yesterday. It will stay down for a few more days until we get a new disk. Anyway-- the best places to get the pictures are not on our site... they are at places like JPL, CNN, and LFM.

WOW! Fantastic! There is a possibility that I will be on MSNBC for several hours on Monday, talking about the mission -- this hasn't been set in stone yet, but they have asked me to do it and I have said yes (I won't believe it until I am on the plane to New York)... the point is, you might want to check out MSNBC on Monday during the normal operating hours of Pathfinder (late afternoon and evening).

WOW! Can you believe it?
Ken Edgett

(Note: Dr. Edgett is a Mars expert/planetary scientist who heads the Arizona Mars K-12 Education Program)

Slide 9

EXAMPLE 7: SCIENTIST ON-LINE

Sat, 18 Oct 1997 11:02:05 -0700 (MST)
From: Ken Edgett
Subject: more re Sand on Mars
To: discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov

Dear LFM folks--

I have been swamped and in and out of town a lot this month, but I wanted to weigh in on this "Sand on Mars" discussion, since it is a topic most near and dear to my heart. What I wanted to do was suggest that if you are really intrigued about this topic, a nice starting point is an article that appeared in ASTRONOMY magazine about four years ago (which is still fairly current except for the Pathfinder results). You should be able to locate this in school and/or public libraries, or perhaps even in thrift stores...

"The Sands of Mars," by Ken Edgett, Paul Geissler, and Ken Herkenhoff, ASTRONOMY, v. 21, no. 6, pp. 26-35, June 1993.

Take care
Ken Edgett, Arizona Mars K-12 Education Program

Slide 10

EXAMPLE 8: SENSE OF SUPPORT & COMMUNITY

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 07:16:40 +0000
To: Debate LFM
Subject: Weather Worlds Deadline
From: Deb Regal


Hello Weather Worlds Participants,

What a relief to find that I am not the only teacher who is having difficulty meeting the Oct. 3 deadline for Weather Worlds plans to be submitted. I do agree that maybe it is more of a problem at the beginning of the year for those of us who teach in a self contained classroom setting with responsibility for multiple subject instruction. I am endeavoring to make Weather Worlds an interdisciplinary experience which requires some logistical consideration for where the students are in the different subject areas at the time. Also, our school year did not truly launch until Sept. 3 with some transportation delays and general chaos.

Another week would be great:-)

Deb Regal

Slide 11

EXAMPLE 9: FLEXIBLE NATURE OF FORUMS

Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 22:03:59 -0401 (EDT)
To: debate-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov
From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Change in deadline for class plans

Dear Weather World Debaters,

We want to thank everyone for letting us know that you were feeling pressured to reach the deadline. Susan and I are very much in your same situation.

The deadline for your plans has been changed to Friday, October 10th. We hope this will be enough time for everyone. If you will need additional time please let Susan or I know in a private email and we will see what we can work out.

We thank you for your patience. Please feel free to use the list for questions, concerns, problems and of course successes. One of the nice things about using the Internet is communication and teachers helping teachers.

Susan Hurstcalderone
Eileen Bendixsen
Moderators of debate-lfm

Slide 12

HELPFUL HINTS FOR EDUCATORS JOINING DISCUSSION FORUMS

• Access the archive of postings and scan them to get a sense of the discussion flow
• Introduce yourself
• Read your mail list postings on a regular basis
• Contribute by sharing ideas, resources, sharing concerns
• Don't hesitate to ask questions or seek help

Slide 13

ADVICE -- HOW TO MAXIMIZE BENEFITS OF ON-LINE PARTICIPATION

• Be aware of basic netiquette (don't type in all caps, stay focused on the topic, use quoted segments -- not the entire posting--- when replying, etc.)
• Seek new friends within the forum by inviting them to participate in special projects on a class-to-class basis
• Participate -- Participate --Participate!

Slide 14

WHAT ABOUT THE LOGISTICS?

• The purpose of the mail list (the mission, goals, objectives)
• How to post a message to the entire list
• How to respond directly to a member of the list without copying all list members
• Remember that the group may be very diverse - and even have international members. Be patient if posting errors occur (ex. posting attached files)
• Keep all introductory messages received when first subscribed to the list. Important unsubscribe information is contained in these messages.
• Email messages can be easily misinterpreted... be cautious about "flaming" or posting unrelated info to a list

Slide 15

TIME MANAGEMENT & SHORTCUTS

• Most educators make accessing their email a regular part of the day whether it be at home or at school
• Compose your postings in a word processor throughout the day/week and copy and paste them into your mail program when ready to send.
• Join a digest version of the discuss list which compiles all daily postings into one longer message rather than several separate messages.
• Be sure to subject head your messages properly so that they catch the attention and are focused on the topic
• Some mail programs allow you to "filter" your mail which automatically sorts your incoming mail into folders. This helps keep your mail organized.