A.I. Tools for Informal STEM Education
Welcome to Insights & Opportunities: A Hub for Informal STEM Education! Insights & Opportunities is a twice-monthly newsletter for educators, administrators, legislators, and advocates who recognize the importance of informal STEM learning.
This newsletter is brought to you by me, Sarah Dunifon, and my team at Improved Insights. I’m a long-time STEM educator, researcher, and equity advocate. Along with my team, I now work on cutting-edge informal STEM learning research and evaluation.
Each edition of this newsletter offers exciting insights, resources, and opportunities for informal STEM learning professionals, including funding, jobs, professional development, informal STEM learning research, evaluation tips and resources, and so much more! We hope you find it valuable. Now, let’s get started.
A.I. Tools for Informal STEM Education
As an informal STEM education professional, you likely have directly experienced that emerging A.I. technologies have become mainstream in the past year. Tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini (formerly Google Bard) are everywhere. A.I. capabilities like generative A.I., voice recognition, natural language processing, image recognition, and more are becoming ubiquitous. Informal STEM education professionals would be wise to consider what implications - and opportunities - these technologies will provide in the coming years. A little over a year ago, I explored some of these potential downfalls and advantages in this article on our Insights page.
As a part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing the informal STEM learning community, we’ve begun a database of AI tools that may be helpful for informal STEM learning professionals. It’s a library of resources you might explore to enhance and complement your work. We hope it’s useful to you!
To read the full article, check it out in our Insights.
60-Second Suggestions
Here are a few of my favorite things this month, usually pertaining to informal STEM education and evaluation, but occasionally some fun personal stuff, too.
It’s not just evaluators and informal STEM education professionals grappling with emerging AI technologies. This article from Library Journal discusses how librarians are evolving their practices as new AI tools emerge. The article carefully balances the idea that these tools can both enhance and detract from librarians' role in the education landscape, particularly in the K-12 space. Many of the questions that are raised in the article directly reflect the general concerns of educators (both formal and informal), such as how to navigate these tools without clear institutional guidance and what the future impacts (both positive and negative) of implementing these tools might be (a topic I discussed from an Informal STEM Education perspective on our Insights page in January of last year).
The Center for Evaluation Innovation has released its 2023 Benchmarking Research on Foundation Learning and Evaluation Practices report. The research represented in the report tracks and provides a comprehensive overview of trends in how foundations structure, staff, resources, and prioritize the work of their learning and evaluation functions since 2009.
Lend your voice to the next iteration of Informalscience.org! The Reimagining Equity and Values in Informal STEM Education (REVISE) Center is a National Science Foundation resource center for the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program. Between late February and early March, the REVISE Center is conducting peer focus groups for individuals in the informal STEM education community to provide feedback about the next iteration of this site. If you would like to participate in a focus group, submit an interest form by February 19, 2024.
Opportunities
Check out these new opportunities for the informal STEM learning community.
Funding:
Aquaculture Literacy Mini-Grant, North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), $20,000. Informal learning institutions are invited to apply for mini-grants of up to $20,000 to support the co-development of innovative educational experiences that explore aquaculture topics with the aquaculture industry and NOAA partners. Applications are due March 15, 2024.
Frank Hadley Ginn & Cornelia Root Ginn Foundation Grants, Cleveland Foundation, $2,500-$15,000. Organizations in the Cuyahoga County area are invited to apply for grants ranging from $2,500-$15,000 for programs that focus on education, including those that promote academic success, social-emotional growth in students to help them excel in school, and in-school and after-school programs that supplement academic learning. Applications are due March 1, 2024.
Garden Grant Program, Whole Kids Foundation, $3,000. Schools and nonprofit organizations will be awarded grants of $3,000 to turn outdoor spaces into hands-on learning gardens that connect kids with food, spark their curiosity, and support classroom curriculum. The program supports both new and existing edible educational gardens. Applications are due March 1, 2024.
West Michigan Youth Programs, Gerber Foundation, $5,000-$10,000. Nonprofits in West Michigan are invited to apply for grants of up to $10,000 that will be awarded to programs serving youth from 0 to 18 years of age. A special emphasis is placed on programs focusing on education (including STEM) and life experiences (e.g., Ag Science Education, 4-H, FFA, etc.).
YLACES Grants, Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES), $5,000. U.S. environmental educators and organizations may apply for grants of up to $5,000 for initiatives to engage students in the environmental research and inquiry process. Applications are due February 29, 2024.
Jobs and Fellowships:
Bilingual Environmental Education Specialist, Audubon Canyon Ranch (Glen Ellen, CA), $66,500. The Education Specialist will design, manage, and implement programs for youth and adults. Applications are due February 19, 2024.
California Creators for Nature (CCN), California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco Bay Area, CA), $20,000 stipend. The California Academy of Sciences is excited to launch California Creators for Nature (CCN), a paid, year-long program for five Bay Area digital creators and storytellers. Applications are due February 19, 2024.
Deputy Director - American Climate Corps, STEM Next Opportunity Fund, $115,000. The Deputy Director for the American Climate Corps will support the American Climate Corps Hub and the Office of Strategic Partnerships at AmeriCorps through day-to-day operations and reporting on impact. Applications are due February 19, 2024.
Director of Community Science, BioBus, Inc. (Bronx, NY), $82,000. The Director will lead the Bronx science team, including two Community Scientists, in overseeing BioBus's high-impact programs in the Bronx.
Executive Director, Delaware Center for Horticulture (Wilmington, DE), $95,000. The Executive Director will have a track record of success in conceptualizing and executing new programs that have garnered greater awareness, financial success, and reputational growth. Applications for the position are due March 7, 2024.
Professional Development:
Advanced Inquiry Program, Miami University (online). Miami University’s Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) is an online master’s degree combining web-based graduate courses with face-to-face experiential learning and field study at premier national zoological, botanical, and wildlife conservation institutions. Applications are due February 28, 2024.
ECSA 2024 Conference, European Citizen Science Association (Vienna, Austria). “Be part of one of the leading citizen science events in Europe, to discuss and network with citizen science practitioners, researchers, activists, scientists, policymakers, artists, and more.” The 5th European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) conference will be held in Vienna, Austria, April 3-6, 2024.
National Conference on Science Education: NSTA Denver24, National Science Teaching Association (Denver, CO). NSTA is “a vibrant community of 40,000 members — science educators and professionals committed to best practices in teaching science and STEM and its impact on student learning.” NSTA Denver24, the National Conference on Science Education, will occur in Denver, CO, from March 20-23, 2024.
Science Talk '24, Association of Science Communicators (Portland, OR). “The Association of Science Communicators (ASC, formerly Science Talk) is a professional organization growing to meet the needs of the multifaceted science communication community so we can better address the challenges facing our society.” The Association of Science Communicators' annual conference will occur April 11-12, 2024.
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