NASATalk Connects Teachers
Back in 2007 NASA turned to the Classroom of the Future to create a comprehensive report benchmarking the state of educational technology. That led to the 2008 debut of the EdTech Collaborative, a NASA-funded website where educational technology users could go to learn about all the various technologies available and how people were using them. The site changed in 2009. The EdTech Collaborative became NASATalk. The new website features a Web 2.0 approach that invites teachers to connect online and share what works and what doesn't work when it comes to NASA resources to enhance STEM teaching and learning. The new name and presentation of this Joomla-based content collaborative make clear to the target audience—educators—that NASA educational resources are the focus of the site.
On the site we’ve created the STELLAR Awards, an events calendar, a technical knowledge base called NASATalk Forums, a Tweet section (Twitter module), and a general blogs area called where anyone can discuss anything. There also are categories for many NASA groups to have their own discussions and share information between the different groups, so the site is a one-stop shop not only for educators, but for NASA as well.