Wed, Aug 04, 2021:On Demand
Background/Question/Methods
The mission of the American Geophysical Union’s Sharing Science program is to provide scientists with the skills, tools, and opportunities they need to share their science with any audience. While we in the program possess the skills and expertise to do this, we also believe that it’s beneficial for artists to learn from, and be inspired by, their peers.
In 2020, we launched a webinar series, How to: Skills for the complete scientist, with the goal of providing scientists with a broad set of skills to communicate their science, with a focus on virtual activities. Webinars were not a new teaching tool; however, we had never created a year-long series around a central theme. And while our webinars are usually well-attended, we recognized the limitations in accessibility around attending a live webinar. Additionally, we understand that not everyone is interested in watching an archived recording of a webinar, which ours are.
To make the knowledge in our webinars more accessible to audiences before, during, and after the live event, we set out to create a digital platform, our Virtual Learning Hub, where multiple products related to the webinars would exist. In addition to webinar recordings, we created TikTok videos as teasers leading up to the live events, illustrations and animations highlighting key take-home messages, an abbreviated animated version of the webinar focusing on key points, and a follow-up infographic.
Results/Conclusions In 2020, we executed eight webinars with an average live viewership of ~175/webinar. The Virtual Learning Hub averaged ~850 visits/month, indicating the interested parties are utilizing post-webinar products. Our 2021 webinar series, Storytelling for the 21st Century Scientist, will consist of nine webinars with identical post-webinar products that will be showcased on the Virtual Learning Hub. Our hope is too continue with this process to not only provide interested parties with the skills, tools, and resources they need in a variety of formats, but also to track interest year-to-year to learn about best ways to engage with our audiences
Results/Conclusions In 2020, we executed eight webinars with an average live viewership of ~175/webinar. The Virtual Learning Hub averaged ~850 visits/month, indicating the interested parties are utilizing post-webinar products. Our 2021 webinar series, Storytelling for the 21st Century Scientist, will consist of nine webinars with identical post-webinar products that will be showcased on the Virtual Learning Hub. Our hope is too continue with this process to not only provide interested parties with the skills, tools, and resources they need in a variety of formats, but also to track interest year-to-year to learn about best ways to engage with our audiences