Monica Young Deleted funding paragraph, reorganized first paragraph to lead with "Call of Duty" quote (but still needs something to make it flow better)  over 9 years ago

Commit id: a06c16176a3e54d4e03b222ddeb0fa3ee59745ff

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# Revolutionizing Education: WWT Astronomy  Ambassadors[inset BOX-style formatting]  In 2009, retired professional astronomer Stephen Strom was visiting Cambridge "Cooler than Call of Duty." Kids and adults alike love using WWT, making it an ideal platform  for a meeting honoring Giovanni Fazio, whose group created educational outreach, not just in  the short-wavelength camera on U.S., but also in China, Poland, India, Germany, and  the Spitzer Space Telescope. At that meeting, Goodman showed a special Spitzer-oriented tour to honor Fazio, which inspired Strom UK. The WWT Ambassadors (WWTA) Program trains active researchers, ranging from advanced undergraduates  to track down his friend Goodman after the presentation tenured faculty, as well as retired astronomers,  to learn more. After use WWT in  a few minutes wide variety  of WWT demo, Strom said, "why don't I know about this? And, why doesn't everyone know about this program?!" Goodman answered, "well, it's been downloaded more than 3 million times already." Strom insisted that 3 million was way too few, educational envirnoments. Ambassadors create sky tours, attend science fairs  and conventions, and aid in-classroom research. Perhaps not surprisingly, studies so far have shown  that something must be done. Strom mandated what is now called the "WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors Program," which would (and now does!) "employ" volunteer expert retirees right there on the spot. students learn far more from interactive tools such as WWT.  The WWT Ambassadors Program trains expert professional astronomers, physicsists, and engineers to use WWT to teach STEM in a wide variety of educational envirnoments. Today, some of the Ambassadors are retirees as Strom envisioned, but most are active researchers at all levels ranging from advanced undergraduates to tenured faculty. Pat Udomprasert, a Caltech Astronomy PhD-turned-full-time educator, leads the WWTA effort. Ambassadors help create new Tours and attend science fairs and conventions, and many also participate in rigorous in-classroom research in K12 environments where Udomprasert and her team are researching how tools like WWT are best integrated into teaching and learning ecosystems as they evolve. Not surprisingly, Since  kidsand adults alike love using WWT (literally calling it "Cooler than Call of Duty," and the formal research clearly shows that people also _learn more_ from it than they do from more "2D" less interactive materials.  To date WWT Ambassador activities, carried out around the US, and in China, Poland, India, Germany, and the UK, have been funded by Microsoft Research, the National Science Foundation, and Harvard University. Now, the team is hoping to build upon its success with planned near-term collaborations with publishers and other broad-reach organizations and foundations. And, in 2013, some of Goodman's students in a Harvard graduate class even used WWT to create modular learning elements that will soon be included in the "edX" online learning platform for adults.  Kids  in schools learnhow  to operate the WorldWide Telescope astonishingly quickly,so it is  theongoing  role of Ambassadors is  to bring deep STEM (Physics, Math, Chemistry, Engineering) deeper physics, math, chemistry, and engineering  knowledge to bear on the kids questions, by answering kids' questions. They may answer  questions in-person online or  in classrooms the classroom,  where teachers are using WWTA curricula, and online by making meaningful Tours and answering internet-based inquiries. curricula.  If you are interested in bringing WWTA to your area, or in becoming an Ambassador, we encourage you to visit the WWTA website (https://wwtambassadors.org/wwt/)  and be in touch!