To make sure we're providing you with the very best educational resources and teacher training, we at UNAWE have to make sure to stay on top of our game by keeping up-to-date with the hottest new products, resources and best practices available in the education world. Last month (22-26 January) members of the UNAWE team were busy doing just that at the bi-annual Dutch National Education Exhibition (NOT2013) in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Why NOT?
NOT is the world's largest education fair for professionals working in primary and secondary level education, with over 400 exhibitors every year bringing guests the latest from the sector, including multimedia developments, ICT software, classroom tools and much more. For the first time, this year, UNAWE took part in the exhibition, with the intent of making new contacts in the education sector, testing the newest products and discussing best practices with other educators. The fair also offered a prime opportunity to promote the UNAWE project to a new audience of science educators, and through them, fresh, young children.
Making Contact
The UNAWE stall, which was shared with our partners from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA), showcased the UNAWE teacher training courses and educational resources, in particular the Universe in a Box and Space Scoop. We could keep track of the number of visitors to the UNAWE stall by scanning their NOT badges. Some 2000 members of the education sector were reached throughout the week-long event. The group consisted largely of primary school teachers — UNAWE's target audience — who were given flyers, demonstrations and information about the programme and around 600 have joined the UNAWE mailing list.
Better Luck Next Time
Although the UNAWE team offered out a number of 10-minute teacher training sessions each day, covering simple astronomical topics such as the lunar phases and the seasons, guests declined citing time constraints due to the overwhelming number of exhibitions.
Erik Arends, educational support trainee and one of the exhibitors at the UNAWE stand, explains: “Unfortunately, the visitors were under time pressure to check out every stand at the fair. However, most teachers we spoke showed a lot of interest in the UNAWE project and particularly our new educational toolkit, Universe in a Box, which was being debuted at the exhibition.”
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