Slooh gives students and teachers access to live feeds from real telescopes in some of the best viewing locations in the world. This includes locations in the Canary Islands and Chile, as well as a new telescope in Australia scheduled to come online in early 2024.
I found real value in Slooh's educational resources, which are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). I also liked the active community of citizen science experts and astronomers who helped me understand and do real astronomy, as well as participate in live events. While I was doing my review I participated in “Missions” and “Star Parties”.
With the Total solar eclipse Starting in April, having a tool like Slooh can help support student interest in astronomy and STEM subjects.
Slooh: Getting started
I found starting with Slot easy. Once I logged into my account, I was taken to my dashboard. The dashboard is the hub from which I can contribute to the community, share and view observations, schedule new quests or view past quests, as well as join special Slooh quests and events. A place to view my saved photos and those shared by the community is also available.
Slooh has a lot of astronomy content and I felt a little overwhelmed at first, but the introductory video, as well as their quality resources and support, flattened the learning curve fairly quickly. As an educator, I appreciated that Slooh is not about simulations, but rather allows students hands-on control of real telescopes. Additionally, gamified learning features will further motivate students to continue their knowledge.
I can assign students missions to teach about space and the universe in a real, tangible way that goes beyond simulations and textbooks. Missions are guided NGSS-aligned activities designed to help students use their telescopes to explore space. The gamification of Quests allows students to earn Gravity Points and Badges for motivation and engagement.
Missions are 5 or 10 minute sessions at a telescope scheduled for a certain date and time in which students or teachers can control one of their telescopes to explore and capture images of a particular object in the universe. There are also pre-set quests available that I can join as part of the community. All images taken are saved to your account.
Slooh: best features
- Slooh “Missions” that provide live control of real telescopes in world-class locations to observe the universe in real time.
- The “Workspaces” feature integrates with Google Classroom and gives me access and control of NGSS-aligned “Assignments” that I can assign to students. As well as giving students the tools to create posters and animations to show understanding and share knowledge.
- Gamification of learning to engage and motivate students to continue their learning independently.
- The online community is a vibrant group of experts and passionate astronomy fans sharing their expertise and answering questions.
Slooh: Prices
Pricing varies depending on the plan selected and whether you want a single license, for multiple classrooms, or one for your building or district. An advanced telescope control license is also available for high school astronomy courses.
To see more information or request a quote you can visit Slooh Pricing Page.
Slooh: key takeaways
Slooh gives students and teachers access to high-quality live telescopes and up-to-date data and images to bring the science of astronomy to life. I found it comforting to know that I was not learning alone on my own or with my classmates if I was a student, but with a community that supports each other and shares resources.
Ultimately, Slooh offers teachers and students studying space STEM fun, real-life science experiences that will motivate them to explore the universe even more.
