Hello everyone, I was reviewing the Diversity Blogs and I found the one titled:
"STEM OUTREACH IN A VIRTUAL WORLD"
( STEM Outreach in a Virtual World - INFORMS Diversity ) written by Aida Rahmattalabi, Caroline Johnston, and Phebe Vayanos, discusses a virtual event designed to expose high school students from underrepresented backgrounds to the fields of operations research and artificial intelligence. This initiative, spurred by funding from the INFORMS DEI Ambassadors program and hosted by members of the USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society (CAIS), aimed to educate and connect students to real-world applications and researchers in these cutting-edge fields. The event, adapted to a virtual format due to the pandemic, the platform to facilitate interactive and engaging mentor-led projects and discussions, resulting in a successful educational experience and increased student interest in STEM fields.
This initiative reflects the trend where virtual environments can successfully facilitate educational and networking opportunities. The high engagement and positive feedback mirror findings that virtual platforms can bridge geographical divides and provide meaningful interactions, similar to what has been observed in various online educational settings.
But what I felt is building informal networks and relationships is a key part of outreach and education. Casual conversations and serendipitous interactions that occur in physical spaces are less likely to happen in structured virtual environments.
Would you like to explore how we can continue to leverage virtual platforms for STEM education post-pandemic? Furthermore, if you've had personal experiences with STEM outreach, either virtual or in-person, I'd be interested in hearing how those experiences compare to the outcomes discussed in this post.
------------------------------
Sushma Niveni Pindiga,
UC Davis, MSBA
-------------------------------