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ABSTRACT
Earthlearningidea was developed, without funding, to publish a new Web-based earth science teaching idea every week during the International Year of Planet Earth (2008); during 2009, publication continued, but at monthly intervals. The activities were mostly practically based and were aimed particularly at teachers and teacher educators in the developing world, who teach in classrooms with minimal resources, and they aimed to develop active and inquiry-based learning approaches. Earthlearningidea's success is indicated by the fact that, by December 2009, 69 activities had been published, activity pdf files had been downloaded more than 110,000 times, and the blog had been accessed in 152 countries, with positive feedback from many teaching situations. Many of the Earthlearningideas had also been translated into Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, and Chinese (Mandarin). Analysis of those who accessed the Earthlearningideas showed that the majority were from the more developed world. Thus, during 2010-2011, the activities, which were published each fortnight, were created to be slightly more sophisticated than previous activities, for example, in using equipment likely to be available in a school science laboratory, or more abstract ideas. The "stop press" update shows that the success of Earthlearningidea, measured by a range of indicators, is increasing. We ask all our readers to access the site, use the activities, give us blog feedback, and "tell their friends" across the globe.
© 2023 National Association of Geoscience Teachers. [DOI: 10.5408/10-159.1]
Key words: practical activities, inquiry-based learning, thinking skills, Web site, blog, translation
EARTHLEARNINGIDEA SYNOPSIS
Earthlearningideas can be accessed at the http.7/www. earthlearningidea.com Web site Qiarthlearningidea, 2010), or through a search engine like Google by typing "Earth learning idea." Each Earthlearningidea is an earth science teaching activity, free to download and use, with the aim of teaching earth science knowledge and understanding through active and often inquiry- based teaching methods. The initiative was developed by volunteers because funding bids for other global earth science teaching initiatives had failed, showing how failure can be changed into success by voluntary effort and "thinking outside the box." The site was launched in 2007, activities have been added steadily since then, and the site contained 69 Earthlearningideas by December 2009; since then, a new activity has been added each fortnight. The activities are written for teacher educators...