Science outreach programs that enable real-time interactions between scientists and school-aged children are known to positively impact learning gains and students' perceptions of scientists. To expand K-12 outreach by scientists, it is important to build structured outreach programs which offer scientists well-defined opportunities, while…

Worldwide initiatives have been promoting awareness on marine environmental issues. In Brazil Maritime Mentality Program arises from political disputes over the right to use maritime spaces, Coastal Marine Environmental Education shares the same theoretical basis as Environmental Education and Ocean Literacy appears in the USA and became globally…

The great possibility of alternative education programs rests in the affront to established conventions that these present for what counts as learning, engagement and the experience of schooling. This paper takes as its point of focus one specific, in-school alternative learning program, and considers the possibilities for student re-engagement…

In this paper we present the "Sky on Earth" project funded in 2008 by the Italian Ministry of Instruction, Research and University, inside its annual public outreach education program. The project's goal was to realise a stable and open-access astronomical garden, where children, teachers and citizens could be engaged in investigations…

An important goal for education innovation is to support the development of today's students into strong and committed global citizens. Innovative programs that build leadership skills and expand foreign policy understanding are critically important to our interconnected future.

This book brings together current thinking on informal language learning and the findings of over 30 years of research on captions (same language subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) to present a new model of language learning from captioned viewing and a future roadmap for research and practice in this field. Language learners may have…

This year's report examines the critical role community plays in education. Integrating learning that takes place inside and outside of school has always been a powerful strategy to support student success, but it gained special relevance this year, as school closures made family and community members integral parts of students' daily learning.…

A new multi-disciplinary degree program in education and information studies was developed to uniquely facilitate educators' capacity to be responsive to the demands of a digitally connected world. Charles Sturt University's Master of Education (Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation) aims to develop agile leaders in new cultures of digital…

This paper presents four projects in which mobile devices are used to support authentic learning in an afterschool technology club, "La Clase Mágica" (LCM@UTSA), designed to motivate underrepresented elementary school children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The implementation of mobile devices into our LCM@UTSA is…

Music video creation provides students a new way to express themselves and become better performers and consumers of media. This article provides a new perspective on Lucy Green's informal music pedagogy by enabling students to create music videos in music classrooms; thus, students are able to create music videos that informally develop…

The People Learning Urban Science (PLUS) program creates partnerships and coordinates efforts involving a local zoo, university, and school district, seeking to instill within students a sense of the natural environment. Even though the majority of students live among concrete and metal structures, their eyes and ears can be trained to make…

In Italy, accreditation of prior learning is a sensitive issue. Despite the lack of laws or qualification frameworks regulating the recognition of non-formal and informal learning, most Italian universities proceed with caution, allowing only a restricted number of credits in the university curriculum related to practical activities or to external…

Many are accustomed to the idea that we learn at school and that a college education is acquired in college classrooms. In reality, however, learning takes place in all aspects of a person's life--through military experience, raising a family, volunteering, and, perhaps most significantly, in the workplace. Learning that occurs in the workplace…

The presence of geosciences in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools in Argentina has been highly dependent on educational policies that change frequently under political circumstances. Subjects related to geology, geophysics, meteorology, and astronomy make their appearance and disappear under the influence of educational initiatives…

Virginia's LEAF Program incorporates educational opportunities with heritage experiences and technology to advance forestry education in the Commonwealth. Statewide heritage-based outdoor classrooms use an integrated outdoor learning system to provide both formal and informal education. Online learning modules are coupled with the classrooms to…