How does it work?
The CHRISTMAS LECTURES will be aired over the festive period. Over the following 5 weeks, throughout January 2016, people can put their questions to the experts. The site will be promoted to the public and school students through I’m an Astronaut, and the Ri.
Each week there will be a different mix of five experts to answer the questions. During their active week experts will interact online in two ways; through posted questions (such as these from last year’s I’m an Engineer CHRISTMAS LECTURES Zone), and through text-based live chats.
Experts can answer the questions whenever and wherever suits them. This will be using a simple web interface, much like sending an email. The live chat will be moderated, and works in a similar way to instant messaging. It runs for 30 minutes and is scheduled during school hours.
Why take part?
This online forum allows a deeper discussion around the CHRISTMAS LECTURES theme, How to survive in space; experts see what questions and concerns the public have, and the public have the opportunity to explore the topics raised in much greater depth.
For the people answering questions, it’s a great way to practice communication skills. The format helps you hone your messages and work out the best ways to explain your work to a wide audience, but in a flexible format designed to work around your availability.
Expectations
If you take part you’ll be ‘live’ on the site for one week (or two weeks if you’ve got lots of time) out of the five. You’ll answer questions and take part in live chats with the schools. We expect the time commitment will be around 45 minutes to an hour a day, and won’t take up more than two hours a day. As it’s online you can answer questions whenever and wherever you happen to be.
Next steps
We’ll start confirming the experts taking part in December. Every expert will have an online profile (with picture and short bio) and we’ll allocate which weeks the experts will be live in, depending on your ability.