2 April 2010  •  One of the world’s most popular websites aimed at bringing Earth and space science to learners of all ages is moving to a new home and offering new capabilities and opportunities for partnership. Windows to the Universe (W2U), based at NCAR since 2000, will move to the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) starting in mid-April.

The shift is designed to help make the site an open educational resource and to allow scientists, university faculty, K-12 educators, and others to contribute content more readily, says W2U founder Roberta Johnson. “Our goal is to position the project as an education and outreach facility for the entire geoscience community,” says Johnson, who launched W2U while at the University of Michigan. Johnson is leaving her post as UCAR's director of education and outreach (EO) to focus on the W2U transition and her role as executive director of NESTA. (She will remain part-time with UCAR EO and will retain her NCAR scientific appointment.)

Collaborators will be able to build on the site’s extensive content base and capabilities (some 9,000 pages in both English and Spanish) and will receive training and support from project staff to create new material. Scientists planning an observational campaign, for example, can help update or extend site content that’s relevant to their research, as well as report on their project as it unfolds through the site’s easy-to-use Postcards from the Field capability. “At a larger scale, programs and organizations will be able to leverage these same resources, the site’s large audience, and the new capabilities that will be developed to promote their own research, resources, and programs,” Johnson says.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is providing $500,000 for a two-year transition period, with the American Geological Institute providing another $50,000. UCAR EO staff will continue to work on development projects on the website under Johnson’s leadership and in collaboration with NESTA.

Roberta Johnson.

The site will undergo a major redesign and update this year, says Johnson. The new arrangement will also help the project become largely self-sustaining, as it will allow for memberships, limited advertising, and a science store that will provide access to quality educational resources such as curricula, activity kits, books, maps, educational tools and games, and geologic specimens.

“Our hope is to develop sustainable funding streams that will augment our grant funding and make it possible to develop new resources and programs for Earth and space science education that would otherwise not be possible,” says Johnson.

W2U draws more than 16 million unique visitors and 60 million page views every year to its Earth and space science content; the site also provides professional development for more than 2,000 teachers annually. Each page is geared to three different reading levels, from beginner (upper elementary) to advanced (high school).  

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