Author
First Name: Shanshan
Last Name: Li
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
Co-Author(s)
First Name: Chenzhou
Last Name: Cui
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Cuilan
Last Name: Qiao
Affiliation: Central China normal University
Country: China
First Name: Linying
Last Name: Mi
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Sisi
Last Name: Yang
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Dongwei
Last Name: Fan
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Changhua
Last Name: Li
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Yunfei
Last Name: Xu
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Yunfei
Last Name: Xu
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Boliang
Last Name: He
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Jun
Last Name: Han
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
First Name: Yihan
Last Name: Tao
Affiliation: National Astronomical Observatories, CAS
Country: China
Title (no more than 200 characters):
Worldwide Telescope, An Ideal Platform for Equitable Astronomy
Abstract (no more than 2,000 characters):
There are two obvious barriers in the implementation process of astronomical education and public outreach in China. One is the lack of the astronomy teachers and public outreach educators. The other is the material of astronomical education are not rich enough and mostly outdated. Using internet and big data technology, astronomer and science educators are trying to break these barriers. The concept of World-Wide Telescope was first mentioned in an article published on Science (2001) and the authors proposed the goal of making the internet act as the world’s best telescope. The educational application was also emphasized for this telescope would give users direct access to the real astronomical data and undoubtedly give people more opportunity to learn science. In 2008 Microsoft Research launched astronomical data visualization platform named WorldWide Telecope (WWT) and made it open-sourced in 2015. In China, the Chinese Virtual Observatory (China-VO) takes the leading role of the development and the promotion of WWT platform. After the WWT¡¯s debut in 2008, the cooperation between China-VO and Microsoft Research began and last for over ten years. Till the end of last year (2018), totally 10 times WWT teacher training workshops were held and three national WWT tour contests been organized. Over 500 science educators and public outreach workers participated in these programs. In 2018, the fully translated and function modified Chinese version of WWT (China-VO version) was launched and tons of new astronomical data were added in 2019. China-VO team together with professor from Central China normal University also put a lot effort into the development of STEAM education methods based on WWT platform for science teachers. It is now widely acclaimed in the Chinese science education community whether in big city or rural area. With massive astronomical data and the unique tour production function design, WWT is an ideal platform for astronomy education. To some extent, it breaks the barriers of traditional science (especially astronomy, physics and geography) education.
Reference[1]: Alexander Szalay, Jim Gray, The World-Wide Telescope (Science 2001)
Reference[2]: AAS WorldWide Telescope: Seamless, Cross-Platform Data Visualization Engine for Astronomy Research, Education, and Democratizing Data (2018)
Reference[3]: WWT Ambassadors WorldWide Telescope for Interactive Learning (2012)