Women who are using technology to inspire young women to get more involved in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are being celebrated by Skype ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, including three who use Skype in the classroom:
· Heather Heenehan, a Ph.D. student in marine science and conversation at Duke University, joined Skype’s “Exploring Oceans” unit last year. Heenehan, who had hosted educational outreach programs related to STEM for fourth- through sixth-grade girls in Durham, N.C., developed her own Skype classroom lessons, “Sounds of the Sea.”
· Jennifer Reiter, a Baltimore-based teacher, aims to help save the sled dog culture and Alaskan huskies, which are being replaced by snowmobiles in Alaska; and to preserve the historical Iditarod Trail between Seward and Nome. She has used Skype to bring experts into her classroom, and held pre-race Skype visits with 35 schools to educate them about the Iditarod Race.
· Sarah Weldon, a cognitive neuropsychologist from Great Britain, first used Skype when she played BBC’s “Oceans” series to her classroom in the country of Georgia in 2010. Many of the students had never seen an ocean animal before. Weldon arranged to have the cast of “Oceans” use Skype to speak directly to her students. Since then, Weldon’s “Oceans Project” has grown into an organization that provides free STEM education to more than 17,000 students worldwide.
Read more about these talented women and their educational programs on Skype’s Social Good blog.
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Suzanne Choney
Microsoft News Center Staff