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Tag Archive for 'expeditions'

LIVE! HSBC Offscreen Student Expedition

Published on July 10, 2008 in education and expeditions. 0 Comments

The HSBC Offscreen Student Expedition 2008 is now live. Please visit the site and see the great films and artwork that the students from the Middle East have been making, including an interview with Alan Duncan MP, which you can see above.

The HSBC Offscreen Student Expedition is a project run by the Offscreen Education Programme in partnership with Digital Explorer and seeks to create greater understanding between the Middle East and the UK. Currently, 8 young Middle Eastern artists are travelling across the UK, creating an authentic portrait of the country to share with their peers in Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE.

Exciting opportunities for educators

Published on April 22, 2008 in education and expeditions. 0 Comments

Earthwatch logo Earthwatch are offering the chance for science and geography educators to get out into the field and work alongside scientists to create educational resources.

From the Earthwatch website…

This year we are pleased to be able to offer 24 fully-funded educator places on a variety of different Earthwatch projects. Working alongside leading scientists for a period of between one to two weeks, small groups of five to eight educators will take part in hands-on scientific research on facilitated projects which include Dolphins of Greece and Whales and Dolphins of the Hebrides.

See their educators section for more information. The closing date is 4 May.

Ben Saunders’ North Pole Speed Record

Published on March 22, 2008 in expeditions. 0 Comments

Ben Saunders sets off tomorrow to attempt to be the fastest person to set a new world speed record from Ward Hunt Island to the Geographic North Pole. The current record was set in 2005 by a guided team using dog sleds and numerous re-supplies in a time of 36 days 22 hours. Ben’s expedition will be solo and unsupported and on foot.

Ben will be blogging daily from the ice on his website, please follow and support him as much as possible.

Watch a short clip by Ben to show what drives him and to get a feel for what it’s like to be alone on the ice.

Ben Saunders from Ben Saunders on Vimeo.

Live from Antarctica

Published on March 4, 2008 in education, expeditions and services. 0 Comments

For two weeks, renowned polar explorer, Robert Swan will be relying solely on renewable energy as part of the E-Base Goes Live project. The team are now in place posting daily video and images. Next week they will be conducting a series of live video chats with pupils globally.

As part of the website designed and built by the Digital Explorer team, I have put up a project suitable for 11-18 year olds on the site.

Enjoy!

A message from Antarctica

Published on November 15, 2007 in services. 0 Comments

In March 2008, Robert Swan and the Inspire Antarctic team will be broadcasting live from the newly launched E-Base in Bellingshausen on King George Island. Robert will be living solely off renewable energy for 2 weeks and sharing his daily experiences with the world through a cutting-edge, interactive website (to be launched mid-February 2008).

Through daily video broadcasts, photography and live chats, Robert and the 2041 team aim to bring the message of preserving Antarctica, promoting sustainable lifestyles and combating climate change to a wider audience.

Follow the adventure online, beginning March 1, 2008, and be sure to check out the BRAND NEW WEBSITE, going live mid-February 2008!!

Join the Facebook group to keep in touch with developments.

Chocolate power to Timbuktu

Published on November 15, 2007 in expeditions. 0 Comments

Best of luck to Andy Pag as he sets off on his truly inspirational journey to Mali in a truck powered by bio-diesel from waste confectionery. Andy is not only delivering an inspirational message to all of us, but is also a leader in remote communications so expect some great digital media on the site.

From the expedition website:

The BioTruck team are attempting the first ever Carbon-Negative driving expedition across the Sahara Desert to Timbuktu in Mali, West Africa.

To do this they will use a mix of carbon cutting techniques, including biofuels and offsetting, and the outcome is being analysed with independent assistance from CarbonAided, using industry standard methodologies to verify the Carbon-Negative claim.

Timbuktu is a city that has suffered from the effect of climate change. Once a river port town, the shifting sands of the Sahara have moved the river 20km away and are now threatening the towns very existence as enormous dunes encroach on the outskirts.

The Expedition will explore and raise awareness of the value of different carbon reducing measures, and will be powered entirely on a unique biodiesel fuel made by Ecotec from waste chocolate!

Ecotec are also donating one of their small scale biodiesel production units to MFC in Mali who will use it to allow local women to re-cycle their used cooking oil into eco-friendly fuel and supplement their income at the same time.

There’s a recycling theme to the expedition too; all the equipment used has been salvaged from the scrap yard and will remain in Mali where it will continue to be used. That includes the BioTruck itself.

Also see The Guardian article published on Thursday 15 November 2007.

Explore at the Royal Geographical Society

Published on November 15, 2007 in expeditions. 0 Comments

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) hosts the world’s premier event for those wishing to lead their own expeditions and fieldwork. Explore will take place on the weekend of 24/25 November 2007.

The Explore weekend has been the starting point for many expeditioners. Some 200 participants are joined by over 50 ‘experts’ for the weekend. Panel discussions and talks range from:project management, field research techniques, fundraising health & safety, insurance and the logistics of living and working in rainforest, polar, marine, desert and mountain environments.

Some of the iNOMAD, Offscreen and Digital Explorer crew will be there speaking about education , new media and film.

For more information email the Geography Outdoors team or go to the RGS website.

(Image from RGS-IBG)

6 points for (expedition) blogging for the classroom

Published on October 2, 2007 in education and technology. 2 Comments

I have been thinking about what makes excellent and engaging blogs from the field, both from my experience setting up the site for the Offscreen Student Expedition 2007, looking at other expedition blogs for the classroom such as Cape Farewell, and planning what changes to make for the next Offscreen Student Expedition in 2008, bringing 8 young people from the Arab world to the UK in July next year.

These are some inital ideas, please let me know what you think.

1. High quality digital journalism
Today’s web-users are more discerning and sophisticated than ever before, returning only to sites that both provide high quality information and can relate their stories with appropriate, timely and professionally produced digital video, images and writing.

2. Integration of online social networking tools
Web-based social networking tools, or Web 2.0, can be integrated to increase user interactivity and provide the necessary platforms to create and cultivate an engaged online community.

There are a host of free services out there and it would be a shame if you did not make use of the likes of YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Skype, SightSpeed, tubemogul, Brightcove, etc. (thank you to Rick for the last two)

3. Fit-for-purpose educational content
If you are developing content for the classroom, make sure that you are in touch with pupils and teachers. They are the ones who will be able to tell you if the content you are providing is relevant and if the look and feel of your site is engaging for a youth audience.

4. Cutting-edge expedition communications
Updating a website from the side of a mountain or the middle of a desert is theoretically pretty simple. The difficult part is making sure that there are as few problems as possible when you are in the middle of nowhere and making sure that you produce content on time. After a hard day’s expedition, do you really want to cut a short digital video and upload content ready for the morning assembly back in London? Planning how and when digital content is going to be created and updated is essential for a good blog.

5. User-based navigation
Navigation and user-interface need to take into account end users’ requirements and design needs, rather than just the organisation’s preferences alone.

6. Best practices in appropriate moderation processes
Original content submitted to websites or blogs by the spectrum of users must be moderated in a timely and responsible fashion. This ensures that users establish and retain trust in the organisation, and prevents inappropriate content from appearing on websites.

Film Projects

Published on June 10, 2007 in education and expeditions. 0 Comments

Currently working on a couple of film projects with Marjan Shirzad, which I hope to be able to post soon. The first will be a re-cut of our Shimshal 2006 expedition where we developed our Google Earth work in North Pakistan and the second (very exciting!) will be the film of the first Digital Explorer expedition with Eastbury Comprehensive to Morocco in March/April 2006.

Back from Antarctica

Published on March 12, 2007 in expeditions and updates. 0 Comments

Marjan is just back from Antarctica, helping the IAE5 expedition. The Inspire Antarctic Expedition 5 saw 60 participants help to inaugurate an Education Base on the Antarctic Peninsula under the leadeship of Robert Swan.