What would it cost?
A: I'd want it to cost something so we could claim PhACT paid for and
sponsored it. I believe volunteers would privately want to cover
any
expenses coming up.
Who would handle the technical issues of setting
it up
I believe the computer triumvirate of Fred Mitchell, David Koehler
and I could handle that.
How would it be promoted?
At first links from existing overloaded similar services. We
could beg
links from science and kid related web pages already in existence.
I could even get free publicity from home schooling support groups.
How would you line up people to answer the questions?
I already answer lots of physics questions that come in since
I
have pages on the subject - I already have a network of people
who help me when I get over loaded or stumped.
How would you make sure the people could answer
questions
I'd trust any PhACT people who already teach a science subject
or
have a science degree (I don't happen to have either) - for the rest,
I'd just do a standard 10 question quiz over the phone. The bottom
line is that any "proctor" should just skip questions they don't feel
sure of. Our answers would all be public, so anyone giving a weak
response would be sure to hear of it.
Aren't there already services like this set up?
Yes, but they are over loaded or poorly run.
How would you address fears of dealing with children
over the internet?
Only proctors would view email addresses. Kids would only leave
a
code name or first name. I expect to know all the proctors.
What if you find too many questions coming in
for the number of volunteer hours?
That's actually a good problem. I'd then recruit more proctors. We
could
also change the flavor of the main page to push people to check for
their
answer already answered in the running log or the FAQ page. We
could
always back down on promotion or ask a prominent page linking to
us to withdrawal the link.
What if there are not enough kids answering questions?
Volunteers could beg for more links from related sites. We could
also get a reference in science weekly reader magazines.
What would a typical exchange be?
Johnny would get on our page, click a button to submit a question and
type a question, say, "why does rain not fall on some areas?".
This
question would then appear on a board kind of like the phact board.
Then, the next proctor familiar with the subject to see the question
(on a special image of the public science board) would post to the
board and privately email to Johnny something like,
"Johnny, good question. I'd like you to look at a globe which
has
colors according to vegetation. Deserts (which aren't always
hot) are usually brown or yellow - Notice that they tend to appear
away from mountain ranges and towards the center of continents.
This
is because moisture evaporated from oceans tends to fall out (in
the
form of rain) when hitting mountains or traveling far in land.
You
can get additional information at . . . . . Thanks for the question
and
remember, "science explains, superstition
confuses"
Or something like that. This response message should take no
more
than 10 minutes to type in and would go out on private email and
get posted to the board.
What questions would you ignore?
We would erase any obscene, hate mongering, political, get rich
quick scams,
or general spam garbage that WILL appear on the forum. Sincere
questions
would be answered. A question like "what
unmethylated exothermic catalysts
would respond to 100nm excitation . .
." would get an apology (unless one
of us knows a research chemist able to take it) - better to admit being
stumped
than to be wrong. I'd probably take most physics questions I'd
be first to
see. But, being weak in biology, I'd just leave any on for others to
take.
I think most questions coming in would not be too tough. I've
been a
guest speaker to my kids classes where we've played "stump the guy
with the glasses" - and they've had a hard time even when trying to
find
a question I can't handle. And I've noticed a number of PhACT
members
smarter than me.
If we get too loaded down, we could develop and send some people to
a FAQ list.
I'd like to privately run this by a few people before formally proposing
it as a PhACT project. Please offer me any feedback to:
eric@phact.org