ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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We are pleased to announce that the Kavli Institute for Cosmological  
Physics (KICP) will be hosting:

"Viewing the Universe Bit by Bit: New Directions and Uses of Astronomy  
Visualization Software"
(April 28-30, 2010 in Chicago)

This workshop will explore Google Sky, WorldWide Telescope,
Celestia and Partiview with the developers of these platforms.

Web site
http://kicp-workshops.uchicago.edu/universe2010

****Applications are due March 15, 2010*****

We expect that this workshop will be heavily oversubscribed.
Please share this with others and post it in appropriate forums.
More details below.

cheers

Randy

PS
plain text details

Overview:
New, visually rich, astronomical software environments coupled with  
large web-accessible data sets hold the promise of innovative and  
exciting ways to teach, collaborate, and explore the Universe.  
Exploring the Universe Bit by Bit will be a hands on workshop that  
will focus on four key visualization software environments: Google  
Sky, World Wide Telescope, Celestia, & Partiview, with the immediate  
goals of developing applications and seeding new collaborations during  
the workshop.

This interdisciplinary workshop is intended to bring together  
scientists, educators (formal and informal), and software developers  
to promote innovative uses of the emerging software platforms in  
scientific research and as tools for learning and teaching. With the  
help of developers of these applications, we will investigate their  
capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses; and identify future  
directions. A primary focus will be the creation of tours, classroom  
applications, collaborative research environments, and laboratory  
exercises during the workshop. These development efforts will be  
supported by mini-tutorials and one-on-one instruction by the creators  
of these products. The principal developers of Google Sky (Noel  
Gorelick, Andrew Connolly, and Ryan Scranton), World Wide Telescope  
(Jonathan Fay), Celestia (Chris Laurel), Partiview (Stuart Levy) will  
lead the instruction. This workshop is modeled after the successful  
"Viewing the Universe:via the World Wide Web" workshop held at the  
University of Chicago in 2008.

Goals of the Workshop:
	• Developing new ways of using astronomical software environments in  
research and education, incorporating current cutting-edge research  
and data
	• Seeding new collaborations, especially cross-cutting & cross- 
disciplinary
	• Identifying strategies to reach underserved communities with this  
technology (e.g., rural and inner city)
	• Incorporating current research data into publicly accessible forums
	• Providing feedback to software developers from educators and  
scientists
	• Expanding the current user base

Who Should Apply:
Educators and scientists who are using (or are very interested in  
starting to use) these new software platforms for scientific  
collaboration, education, data sharing, and public outreach.

One of the goals of the workshop is to foster expansion of the current  
user base. We will be looking for participants who have a wide range  
of innovative ideas. We are especially interested in ideas with the  
potential for significant impact (e.g., on how the new software  
platforms are used in different environments or in audiences reached).
__________________________________
__________________________________

Randall H. Landsberg
Director Education & Outreach
-Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP)
Director Public Outreach
-Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics
The University of Chicago
5640 S. Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637

phone (773) 702-7783     fax 2-8212
email [log in to unmask]

*KICP Education Programs  http://kicp.uchicago.edu/education
__________________________________

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