IQ SPACE EDUCATIONAL Guaranteed Minimum Education for Adults

• 

  Explaining adults about the vibrations

• 

  Cello event - combining art and sciences (presentations on sound propagation)

• 

  A kid tried but adults are facinated and try to understand the principle

• 

  Ways to attract adults

• 

  A visit from a center with disability persons both young and adults - everyone was involved in experiments hands on

• 

  Vintage virtual reality

• 

• 

  Most adults have the intelectual capacity of using and understading the principle of 3D printing yet not even students have this opportunity

• 

  All the elements in the space can be understand by most adults and they should be given this opportunity

• 

  Adults find great interest in investing the best education for their children we should also invest in them

• 

  IQ Space - if it is not phisical we make it virtual and for everyone

• 

  Adults learning with their children

Inspiration

Although I am a programmer actively working and studing in IT for more than twenty years I find hands on experiences and explanations of tremendous importance. As a consequce the last three years I worked on implementing an interactive science space in my home town with fundings and personal finances. It is the version of a smaller interactive science museum. Starting as a small project I had the oportunity of analyzing the reactions of the visitors in this cozy environment. Explaining in a playful, interactive, scientific manner seemed useful not only for children, but for adults and younger adults too. I had the occasion of seeing the potential of adults and how fast they understand, how fascinated they are by how science works. If they aregiven the opportunity they would be able to study further, because now they have the maturity, the tools are better and the motivation higher. But the current paradigm is that studying is only up to a certain age or for those who can afford financially or time wise.

What it does

What it did: The small scientific space was initally meant to allow people touch and experiment phisically. Encouraging collaborations with schools, holding communications classes, english classes, interior design, tehnical classes such as virtual reality, presentations both for children and adults. Being aware of that a lot of focus is currently directed towards children I think it is important not to loose sight of the reast of the population who has still plenty to offer, who has potential and the needed of being part of our plans and solution. What it will do: The plan is to offer a context where one adult can enroll in a program and gets explanations, materials for experimenting, trainings. Since it can be even months or years until a solid ground he can choose to continue the program and guide further other newly enrolled students while being rewarded financially, with training materials, taxes exempt.To have online the instructions (from existent resources or noew ones). To rotate the study materials that can be reused among the studens and to send materials to people's house. I am sure this is an approach that will benefit all of us: individuals, oraganization, states and companies.

How I built it

For the physical space I have accessed founding from National Start-Up programs, I have also invested double this amount from my own resources. I have used knowledge from collaborators and my own for the exibit. I have looked for partners for the classes. I have plan and tested step by step the public reaction and the benefit the space and the activities bring to the visitors. (By visiting other international science museums, brainstorming with persons from different fields, making local surveys, refining my ideas, checking how people of different ages understand and become interested by different science explanations and experiments, always keeping connection both to practical usages and the theorethical studies that help us abstract, scale and go beyond the obvious).

Challenges

The challenges to overcome until til point were romanian bureaucracy, my lack of antreprenorial experince which I had to catch up with, changing the mentality and emphazise on the idea of investing time in activities that can be both fun and educational, working with a culture where time spent in the museums is very low, learn to collaborate with industries that can be seen as competition, such as Commercial Malls. For what is to come the foreseen challenges is establishing an initial financial source. The reluctance of people for studing.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I have interacted with persons and I saw their potential. I have seen older persons that I worked with adapt and understand digital concepts, they use them now. I have managed to transform all the advices of not doing it and I focused more on why it was needed and how I can make it work. I am especially proud of hundreds of moments when visitors had the aha moment and they understood, it made sense to them: be it a simple circuit, the green screen (chroma key) experiment, digital pixels, sound propagation with a pick-up etc.

What I learned

I have learned that indeed with enough insisting and energy, planning and overcoming each obstacle targets can be reached.

What's next for IQ SPACE EDUCATIONAL

To adapt it to this new reality Studying has to continue. I propose sending materials over to people. Offer guidance for online resources etc. Having meetings and collaborate with the state and corporations. Make a platform that keeps track and incentive of people studying. Make a system where they get points and have access to better jobs, taxes reduction, benefits from companies and states etc.