Magnitude.io Opens Applications to Send a Bitmoji Teacher to Space
Teachers creating virtual classrooms for distance learning can now add the International Space Station to their slide decks with Bitmoji and the project-based ExoLab experience
BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- EdTech company Magnitude.io, Inc. announced today that its next mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will include a Bitmoji teacher as the central character connecting students in all educational settings to an experiment in microgravity for an exhilarating virtual field trip experience.
"While the pandemic disrupted normal school routines, innovative teachers have created virtual Bitmoji classrooms to engage students during distance learning," says Ted Tagami, CEO and Co-founder of Magnitude.io. "With Magnitude's Distributed Learning strategy, we facilitate learning in orbit for less than a bus ride to the museum. We're excited to bring teachers, their Bitmojis, and students along on this trip to the ISS."
Beginning today, teachers can apply to be the "Astro_moji Mission Specialist" for ExoLab-8, which launches on the NG-15 resupply mission to the ISS in February. The selected educator's likeness will accompany the astrobotany experiment as a Bitmoji sticker, and their innovative Bitmoji classroom will be featured as an out-of-this-world learning environment. Applications are due December 6, 2020.
"Teachers have embraced the power of Bitmoji to bring classrooms together even when they have to be apart," says Ba Blackstock, CEO and Creative Director of Bitmoji. "We're excited to collaborate with Magnitude.io to recognize and reward innovative and engaging teachers."
The ExoLab-8 mission will investigate how the stress of spaceflight affects the symbiotic relationship of red clover and nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia bacteria. ExoLab missions assist students with authentic research aboard the ISS as they investigate agriculture on Earth and contemplate nutritious food crop production during long duration missions to Mars.
In collaboration with Space Tango, a company enabling R&D and manufacturing in space, and the ISS U.S. National Laboratory's Space Station Explorers, Magnitude.io's award-winning ExoLab dramatically extends reach to connect students in classrooms and kitchens at a fraction of the cost of a typical space-based mission. Space Tango has assisted Magnitude.io since the inaugural launch of ExoLab-1 in February 2017. Magnitude.io is a founding member of the Space Station Explorers consortium. The SSE Ambassador program has enrolled more than 1,000 U.S. teachers and created a community that promotes fun, STEM experiences aboard the ISS.
Using Bitmoji as an educational tool has become one of the biggest trends in education. Thousands of educators have tapped into Bitmoji's incredible popularity with Gen Z to create digitized, personalized learning. The new space-themed stickers can be found in Bitmoji by searching the keyword "liftoff."
"Astro_moji" applications will be evaluated based on driving student curiosity, inquiry, and ingenuity with the ExoLab-8 mission virtually through a Bitmoji classroom. The application process is open to K-12 educators around the world and includes formal or informal teachers, librarians, docents, parents, mentors, or guardians. Do you have the Right Stuff? Rules, Bitmoji classroom instructions, and ExoLab virtual field trip details are available at https://magnitude.io/bitmoji
Media Contact
Lori Waters, Magnitude.io, Inc., +1 (407) 852-8687, [email protected]
SOURCE Magnitude.io, Inc.
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