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Local teacher's classroom has no walls when it comes to learning

Joe Grabowski uses the internet to connect students with scientists, experts and explorers from around the world
20160510 JOE GRABOWSKI ts
St. John Catholic School teacher Joe Grabowski has brought teaching elementary school science to a whole other level. Tony Saxon/GuelphToday

Joe Grabowski's classroom has no walls.

The St. John Catholic School elementary science teacher is using the internet, and the willingness of experts around the world to share their experiences, to take his students to places and meet people they might otherwise never get to learn from.

Through the magic of Skype, YouTube and Google Hangouts, Grabowski is turning concept into reality for his students and for others around North America as the founder of the non-profit teaching tool Education By The Seat Of Your Pants.

Grabowski arranges, organizes and promotes video learning sessions that are shared by his Grade 7 students and students from around the world via Google Hangouts.

The list of virtual appearances is impressive and expansive: an Antarctica penguin colony, a Florida turtle hospital, explorers who have climbed Mount Everest, shark experts from Australia and NASA scientists are just a handful of those who have appeared on the screen.

Some have been brought to Guelph and spoken at a number of schools in person.

"It does make it real for the students," he said of the connection with experts. "By connecting with these experts they can see it happen in the real world. They understand it better and they see it first hand."

Sometimes the students become motivated into action.

After talking with shark experts, students in his St. John class started a letter writing campaign to a regional governor in Australia protesting an upcoming shark cull that got attention on both sides of the world.

A Guelph native, Grabowski actually attended elementary school at St. John, then high school across the parking lot at St. James and eventually the University of Guelph, where he majored in biology and zoology.

A year spent living and scuba diving in Australia fostered his love of science, nature and the environment.

"That was when I really knew I wanted to be a teacher and share my passion for nature and science," he said.

A member of the American shark education and preservation organization Sharks4Kids, a Skype conference with members of that group two years ago kicked off the virtual classroom he creates.

"I was looking for a way to make science more interesting and make a connection with students," he said. "I wanted to bring science, adventure and conservation into classrooms."

Grabowski finds the students more interested, and more engaged, when they are learning about the world and environment from people who have experienced it.

"It's amazing what's out there and who is willing to help if you just start sending a few e-mails," he said.

He expected a lot of "no"s, but said all the scientists and adventurers that appear in the classrooms remember they all had a moment they connected with science and the environment. They remember what it was like to make that connection.

The Education By The Seat Of Your Pants sessions are all available on YouTube.

His teaching efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Grabowski received one of National Geographic Society's Grosvener Teaching Fellowships and will travel to the Galapagos Islands for 10 days this summer with Lindblad Expeditions to study.

"The Galapagos Islands are the Holy Grail for a biologist," he said.

He recently spent four days in Washington at National Geographic's headquarters doing seminars and workshops.

"They want us to document what we find there and they want us to come back and share that information," he said of the trip.

Grabowski has around 1,000 teachers in North America who take advantage of the free Education By The Seat Of Your Pants program. He hopes to expand it to England and Australia.

He also wants to raise money through sponsorship and grants so they can help fund innovative research and projects.

More information on Grabowski's efforts can be found at www.exploringbytheseat.com.


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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