Getting ready for our first virtual presentation

This November, WDC will be trialling its first school’s presentation through Skype video calling as part of a month-long ‘Exploring Oceans’ conference, organised by Skype in the classroom.

The conference coincides with Fabien (grandson of Jacques) Cousteau’s Mission 31 expedition when he plans to spend a month in an undersea lab. Skype in the classroom has partnered with Fabien to launch the project and he himself will be giving a few presentations from the depths of the sea.

Of course there’ll be no one physical venue for the conference but, through Skype, schoolchildren from all over the globe will have access to marine experts and virtual tours that they could never hope to meet or see otherwise.

It’s so important that we engage children in environmental issues and get them excited about what they can do to help the planet and the living creatures upon it – now and as time moves on. How else is there hope for the future?!

I’m really excited about the idea that our participation in the conference will enable us to reach audiences that we’d never otherwise be able to talk to or share questions and answers with. Our first session is going to take place from the confines of our UK office – perhaps not quite as exciting as an underwater lab – but I’m confident we have plenty of interesting facts, images and artefacts to share! And, providing we can make the technology work and it all goes well, we’ll hopefully expand the sessions we provide and allow more children and their teachers an insight into the world of whales, dolphins and WDC.

Who knows, perhaps teachers and their pupils will soon be able to take a virtual tour with our researchers as they watch humpback whales off the coast of Massachusetts! Hmmm…perhaps I’ll sign up for that one myself.