Informal Educators

At The GLOBE Program, science education is not limited to teachers and formal educators. The GLOBE community includes various types of informal educators, such as community club leaders, nature guides, museum staff, librarians and anyone else working outside of a school who furthers scientific literacy and advances the GLOBE mission. These educators serve a crucial role in The GLOBE Program by offering alternative ways for students to do GLOBE in after school or other out-of-school programs such as camps, clubs or with their families

Informal educators serve many different audiences, from families with young children to retired individuals in a wide range of environments. As a result, such educators may choose to engage with GLOBE in different ways based on their audience's needs. 

Because anyone can participate in The GLOBE Program without prior training through The GLOBE Program’s app, GLOBE Observer, the app provides a good entry point for informal educators and their audiences who may prefer a shorter or more simplified engagement. The app is available for free in the Google Play or the App Store. GLOBE Observer is also a good way to invite an audience to bring GLOBE home with them to continue engaging with The GLOBE Program. 

To support those who participate in The GLOBE Program primarily through the GLOBE Observer app, The GLOBE Program designed The GLOBE Observer website. This website provides a Toolkit for Informal Educators which contains information about how to use the GLOBE Observer app and supporting resources to connect a group or organization with GLOBE.

For each GLOBE Observer protocol (Clouds, Mosquito Habitats, Land Cover and Trees), this toolkit includes:

• Hands-on activities
• Quick facts for programming
• Books
• Videos
• Presentation files
• Printable materials for handouts or exhibits
• Promotional materials
• Tips and troubleshooting for using the GLOBE Observer app and its protocols with a group

To facilitate deeper engagement, these informal educators may want to integrate additional GLOBE protocols into their programming.

• Within the United States: Informal educators can be certified in GLOBE protocols through eTraining or by attending an in-person workshop.
• Outside of the United States: Informal educators need to receive approval from their respective country coordinator before attending a GLOBE protocol workshop or completing eTraining. 

Once they are certified, informal educators can submit data for any GLOBE protocol. Informal educators may also access GLOBE’s resources, educational activities, data retrieval tools, visualization tools and many other materials on the GLOBE website.

The GLOBE Program offers several events throughout the year for community engagement, including the GLOBE Annual Meeting and GLOBE Observer Connect sessions. Informal educators can also freely access all of GLOBE’s resources, such as educational activities, publications, and the data retrieval and visualization systems on the GLOBE site.

Do you have a GLOBE Informal Educator success story you want to share? Learn how to submit a GLOBE Informal Educator highlight (Star story).