“And all this science, I don’t understand” is a lyric to Elton John’s song “Rocket Man” but it’s a statement that many people could identify with.
Lets face it, science can be complex and that is why most people shy away from really learning and getting involved in science. One thing that cannot be said is that science is uninteresting — boring, maybe. It depends on who and how someone explains the science. Just imagine if every one had a 6th grade teacher like Bill Nye the science guy. We’d all be piloting flying cars to our labs on Mars! OK, maybe I’m exaggerating but there would be a lot more people interested in science.
Just this week, a new website has come online. It’s called worldscienceu.com and it takes all the complexity of scientific subjects and simplifies them. The website is trying to capture the potential that online education presents.
“To use the internet to create a new kind of education experience. Not just putting a camera into a classroom and hitting record, offering the same kind of lectures we teachers have been given for centuries but creating something different,” says Brian Greene, an American theoretical physicist and string theorist, in the website’s introduction video. Greene founded the revolutionizing website because, as the intro video goes onto explain, he himself had trouble with learning science. Specifically Einstein’s theory of relativity.
“I didn’t fully understand what it all meant. You see I needed some way to turn the abstract math into vibrant mental images. I needed something I could grasp and hold and play with to make these difficult ideas tangible,” says Greene in the video. Worldscieneu.com is going to do just that. Your answers from test questions will get immediate feedback with a pop-up video explaining what you did wrong if you answered incorrectly.
Greene is the “endlessly patient guide to be with you and answer the dozens of questions that are always swirling around in your mind.”
Worldscienceu.com is ranging in lessons from short courses to university courses. Short courses take 2-3 weeks and lets you work at your own pace with no homework or prerequisites. The short courses you could choose from teach you the concepts of special relativity, general relativity, or quantum mechanics.
The university courses take 8-10 weeks and are a little more intense but you can opt out of being graded and earning a certificate to just working at your own pace. These courses get into the math of special and general relativity and quantum mechanics.
“Courses are rigorous but filled with carefully crafted animation that make the abstract visual. Filled with interactive demonstrations that take difficult concepts and make them intuitive,” says Greene in the video to describe how the lessons are taught.
There is also a section called Science Unplugged that contains an archive of short videos that answer questions asked by subscribers. Questions like what are black holes? What is light? How old is the universe? And when we die, are we really gone?
Simply put, Worldscienceu.com makes learning science fun, hands on, and best of all, possible. So sign up and I’ll see you at the lab on Mars.