Deliverable No. 4.1 SciChallenge Web Platform Early Prototype (Additional Report)

Transcription

1 NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE CHALLENGES USING DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO MAKE SCIENCE EDUCATION AND CAREERS ATTRACTIVE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Deliverable No. 4.1 SciChallenge Web Platform Early Prototype (Additional Report) This project has received funding from the European Union s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No

2 2 Project Acronym: Title: SciChallenge Next Generation Science Challenges Using Digital and Social Media to Make Science Education and Careers Attractive for Young People Coordinator: SYNYO GmbH Reference: Type: Program: HORIZON 2020 Theme: Research and Innovation Action (RIA) Innovative ways to make science education and scientific careers attractive to young people Start: 01. September, 2015 Duration: 24 months Website: Consortium: SYNYO GmbH (SYNYO), Austria VYSOKA SKOLA CHEMICKOTECHNOLOGICKA V PRAZE (ICTP), Czech Republic LINNEUNIVERSITETET (LNU), Sweden UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS (UCY), Cyprus INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN (JSI), Slovenia BIOTALENTUM TUDASFEJLESZTO KFT (BIOT), Hungary KINDERBURO UNIVERSITAT WIEN GMBH (KUW), Austria THE NATIONAL UNIONS OF STUDENTS IN EUROPE (ESU), Belgium TEACHER SCIENTIST NETWORK LBG (TSN), United Kingdom

3 3 Deliverable Number: D4.1 Title: Lead beneficiary: Work package: SciChallenge Web Platform Early Prototype SYNYO WP4 Build: Web Platform, Info Hub, Submission System, Challenge Dashboards, and Awareness Channels Dissemination level: Nature: Public (PU) Other (O) Due date: Submission date: Authors: Florian Huber, SYNYO Bernhard Jäger, SYNYO Burcu Akinci, SYNYO Eva Eisenstecken, SYNYO Andrea Vu, SYNYO Contributors: Chris Gary, KUW Acknowledgement: This project has received funding from the European Union s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No Disclaimer: The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the authors, and in no way represents the view of the European Commission or its services.

4 4 Table of Content 1. Introduction Conceptions Conceptual Structure Wireframes Web Platform Early Prototype Landing Page Contest-related Menu Awareness Channels Resources Next Steps... 13

5 5 1. Introduction The SciChallenge web platform is conceptualized as the core of the project. It will serve as the main entry point for the SciChallenge contest. This includes the instructions and guidelines for participation as well as the topic sheets and a submission portal. As another major part, the platform will serve as a channel for creating awareness for STEM education and careers. It will therefore include directories, navigators and blogs focusing on different issues. The early prototype of the Web Platform can be accessed through: The prototype will be tested and filled with content during the next weeks and will then go online under This additional report explains the basic structure of the platform and highlights the current status of the development. Finally, it provides an outlook on the next steps until SciChallenge contest starts and the final version of the platform is online.

6 6 2. Conceptions 2.1 Conceptual Structure As it was outlined in the project concept as well as in D3.3, the SciChallenge Web Platform will include several sections. Figure 1 provides an overview of the conceptual structure of the platform, showing the many different sections that will be included. Although the main sections are already indicated or even included on this early prototype, some parts might be reconsidered in case the testing phase shows that they are neither useful nor relevant. Figure 1: Concept Structure From a conceptual point of view, the platform will serve two purposes: On the one hand, it will be the main hub for the contest. This is defined as the Contest Area in Figure 1. The contest area includes an information section, where the participants find information on the contest as well as the guidelines and rules for participation. Furthermore, the information section also includes the 1-page topic sheets as pdf-files and further educational resources in the form of a (commented) link collection. The submission module will be used for participating in the SciChallenge contest. It starts with the registration, then the category selector, and finally the submission itself. The rating module will be a separate program that will be integrated into the platform. It will on the one hand calculate the online likes and shares (Online Community Rating), and on the other hand it will be accessed with a password by the jury members for selecting the finalists (Jury Rating). Finally, the ranking will be presented on the platform in a visualization module, which will be integrated as navigate-able dashboards and mapping options.

7 7 On the other hand, the platform will include an Awareness, Blogging and Sharing area. This area will include a module with profiles of scientific organizations in order to show the variety of fields and career options in the STEM-fields. It will also present the sponsors of the contest and the opportunities they offer regarding internships. Additionally, it will also list opportunities for STEMeducation as well as science events aiming at young people. Finally, the platform will also include blogs, where different authors can share their experiences, as well as sharing sections focusing on Social Media and links to other platforms. 2.2 Wireframes In the initial planning phase of the platform development, the graphic department of SYNYO developed a set of wireframes for the main parts of the platform. They were intended to provide a first impression of the platform. Furthermore, the development team of SYNYO used these wireframes as a starting point for programming the platform. Figures 2 and figure 3 show the initial wireframes for the landing page as well as the contest information page. Figure 2: Wireframe: Landing Page Figure 3: Wireframes: Contest Information

8 8 3. Web Platform Early Prototype 3.1 Landing Page The landing page of the SciChallenge Web Platform serves as an entry point, from which different paths can be taken. During the conceptualisation it became clear that the main contest related modules to be featured prominently on the landing page directly below the banner. The following image shows the early prototype of the landing page. A brief outline of the particular sections of the landing page is provided below. Figure 4: Landing Page

9 9 By clicking on the contest related boxes below the main banner, the user can enter the following particular sections or modules directly: - The first box, which is labelled as Participate in the SciChallenge on the front page, will link directly to the submission system, where the participants can register and submit their contribution. - All information, which is relevant for preparing the participation as well as basic guidelines, can be accessed by clicking on Learn about the Contest. - The box named Choose a Topic will link to the structured topic sheet collection. This section will include the 50 SciChallenge Topic Sheets that are currently prepared by the consortium. 25 topic sheets will aim at the younger participants (10 tom 14 years.) and they will be available in 10 different languages. The other 25 topic sheets will aim at the age group between 15 to 20 years and they will be available in English only. - The contribution and participation statistics will be accessible through the Explore other Projects box. It will include dashboard, which show the number of contributions that were submitted on the different topics. Furthermore, it will include a mapping of the distribution of the contributions across Europe. In addition to the contest related modules, also several awareness modules will be placed in the landing page (see Section 3.3). 3.2 Contest-related Menu In addition to the landing page, an intuitive menu bar was created. It indicates the different upcoming modules and sections, which will be programmed and implemented during the next months. As the SciChallenge Web Platform is the main entry point for the contest, the first and the second menu points are focussing on all parts that are directly related to it. The first menu point includes the About the Contest section and the Guidelines and Rules for Participation as well as the Submission system, the Rating module and the Contest Dashboard. The second menu point links directly to the structured topic sheet repository, where the user can browse through the different topic sheet categories and download the sheets as a pdf file. Figure 5: Menu: Contest

10 Awareness Channels Menu and Blogs The SciChallenge Web Platform will include a broad set of different awareness channels that can be accessed by the users. On the one hand, the platform will provide information on engagement opportunities. For this purpose, the platform menu will include a direct link to subpages, which will highlight the possibilities for Engagement of young people. It will include Profiles of Scientific Organisations, a Sponsors & Internship Directory as well as Young People & Universities and a Science Events for the Young. Figure 6: Menu: Engagement On the other hand, the Awareness Channels also include a Blogging section, which will host blogs from different author groups. In addition to the coordinator, who will post news on the project, the consortium partners will take care of country-related blogs. They will be written in the respective country language. Furthermore, also selected research or science-related organisations, companies and institutions will be invited to blog on their activities as well as open house days or trainings they are offering. Finally, also the contest participants the pre-university students will be invited to share their experiences and projects in the blog section. Therefore, the blog categories are structured along several categories, which include Challenge & Contests, Events & Activities, Stories & Experiences and Education & Careers. The Blogging Section will be featured on the landing page, as the following impression shows.

11 11 Figure 7: Landing Page: Blogging Section Of course, the blogging section can also be accessed through the menu, as the following image shows. Also here, the different categories can be accessed directly by the users. Figure 8: Menu: Blogging Section

12 Resources Menu Through the final point on the menu bar, the users will be able to access further resources, which might be relevant for both the contest and awareness rising. The early prototype defines two different sorts of resources. On the one hand, it will include links to a variety of Science Platforms. On the other hand, it will provide a collection of additional Useful Links. A substantial number of resources was already collected by the consortium partners in WP2 and will be listed here in the form of a commented collection. Both resource repositories will support the contest participants, when they work on their contributions. Furthermore, they might also be used by interested young people for getting an overview of the scientific world related to the STEM-fields. Figure 9: Menu: Resources

13 13 4. Next Steps As outlined in the Description of Action, the SciChallenge Web Platform will be developed in several iterations. This deliverable 4.1 presented the first prototype, which will provide an overview of the different functionalities of the platform. Within the next months, the Submission System, the Rating Unit and the Visualization Dashboards will be programmed and implemented. An initial wireframe a first conceptualisation of the Submission System and in particular the integrated Registration Unit including the Submission Category Selector is presented below. The final solutions will be integrated online into the platform during the next months and presented in the progress report deliverables D4.2, D4.3, D4.4 and D4.5. Figure 10: Wireframe: Submission System Furthermore, consortium partners and further (external) authors will be invited to contribute to the different awareness sections, which will be then continuously filled with content and maintained by the authors during the lifetime of the project and beyond.