Creating Microcommunities in Project Atmosphere through the Use of Blogs

The American Meteorological Society (AMS) Education program has partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2019 to offer the 26th Project Atmosphere summer K-12 professional development opportunity, with the in-residence portion held at the National Weather Service Training Center (NWSTC). K-12 teachers were competitively selected to participate in the workshop and afforded the opportunity to earn academic graduate credit for their experience upon completion of all course requirements. Project Atmosphere alumni often become the backbone for other AMS Education initiatives, most notably DataStreme, by transitioning into mentor leaders in their home region, recruiting peers who are interested in learning more, and serving as local educational authorities in weather, ocean and climate science.

Much has changed in the classroom since Project Atmosphere was launched in 1993. Technological advancements have driven concomitant pedagogical challenges for K-12 educators. Now paired with California University of Pennsylvania (Cal U) as its academic credit granting partner, AMS has new tools at its disposal for keeping pace with digital classroom deliverables and continuing engagement with K-12 teachers online. Since 2018, participants have been required to complete a series of online assignments utilizing Cal U’s course management system, Desire2Learn (D2L), before arriving at the NWSTC. D2L offers a blogging platform through its Campus Pack extension, called Collaboration Space, creating interactive opportunities amongst participants.

Blogs and websites can be effective virtual spaces for a mix of voices and perspectives. For most, blogging is a solo journey, but for some, blogging is a collaborative effort as many blogs have multiple contributors. During Project Atmosphere 2019, AMS and Cal U course leaders tasked participants with two assignments consisting of a weather observation blog and in parallel, a digital media cloud blog. Students generated their own analysis from suggested digital weather resources, relying on weather forecasts from where they live across the United States. Students engaged one another by reading and reviewing others classmates’ posts, used the comment feature to provide feedback, and create a sharing cohort amongst the group before meeting each other in the NWSTC classroom. These online “micro-community” interactions between students created a feeling of achievement, while further becoming cognizant of various weather patterns, and connecting visual observations (e.g., cloud types) with analysis maps. Ultimately, it prepared students with a peer-learning opportunity before meeting some of NOAA-weather experts at the NWSTC.

By creating a community blog in an online learning environment, teachers were able to:

1. Demonstrate usage of the tools and features, such as a blog, within a learning management system as they pertain to weather forecasting and cloud conditions.
2. Familiarize themselves with the online environment of the D2L course management system used to facilitate nearly all aspects of Project Atmosphere.
3. Begin to develop relationships with fellow course participants prior to convening at the residence portion of the course.
4. Review organizational models, teaching methods, and communication techniques that are effective in the online environment.