NASA ECLIPS: A NEW APPROACH TO LEARNING

NASA is making available a free Web-based educational product to learners of all ages across the country. NASA eClips consists of more than 55 short, 5-10 minute video segments, which are available on-demand via the Internet for the 2008 -2009 school year.

NASA eClips features many of the agency's missions and engages students in the excitement of science and engineering. From the deepest regions of space to hurricanes here on Earth, the goal of NASA eClips is to inspire students to learn more about science and math concepts.

"This new product was designed to respond to the needs of today's educators, and highlights NASA's commitment to providing science, math, technology and engineering resources in a way that is relevant to tomorrow's explorers," said Joyce Winterton, NASA's assistant administrator for education.

Additionally, the NASA eClips program is separated into grade-appropriate topics and designed as a resource for classroom teachers. Accompanying the collection of NASA eClips will be educator guides to provide teachers with examples of how to effectively use the products as instructional tools.

Students, teachers and the general public can look forward to new video and educational content highlighting current research and innovations each week throughout the school year. The number of video clips is expected to grow to more than 220 by next year. The clips are available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/education/nasaeclips

and

http://www.youtube.com/nasaeclips

Partnering with the National Institute of Aerospace in Hampton, Va., CaptionMax of Minneapolis, Internet Archive of San Francisco and YouTube in San Bruno, Calif., allows for the widest distribution of eClips at the lowest cost.

NASA eClips will be featured during Thursday's Future Forum at Boston's Museum of Science. NASA leadership, including astronauts, scientists, and engineers, will discuss the role of space exploration in advancing science, engineering, technology, education and the economy.

For more information on NASA's 50th Anniversary Future Forums, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/50th/future_forums

For more information on the National Institute of Aerospace, visit:

http://www.NIAnet.org