The concept of Marine Environment Literacy

Engaging learners in experiences focused on the ocean helps them build personal connections to the ocean, coasts, and motivate them to become ocean literate and to act on behalf of the ocean. By ensuring that ocean sciences concepts are available and more prominent for young education purposes, those who are concerned about science education and about the future health of our ocean planet will actively promote the implementation of high quality science learning objects related to the ocean. 

This was intended by several international and national initiatives to promote ocean literacy - the understanding of the ocean’s influence on people and the one’s influence on the ocean. It is aimed that more and more people would understand the Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts about the ocean; could communicate about the ocean in a meaningful way; and would be able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources. 

The ocean literacy framework was development over seven principles: 

1- The Earth has one big ocean with many features;

2- The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of Earth;

3- The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate;

4- The ocean made the Earth habitable;

5- The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems;

6- The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected and, finally, 

7- The ocean is largely unexplored.

Objectives

The project has the following main goals:

• Train citizens aware of the need to conserve the environment, oriented towards the sustainable exploitation of marine resources;

• Strengthen the external links of the Azores as an intercontinental platform: Europe, America and Africa, in the area of knowledge about the oceans;

• Reinforce collaborative practices between regional entities, namely between research centres at the University and between them with schools and centres for scientific dissemination.

Methodology

The methodology adopted has the following steps:

1- Create a repository of learning objects about the ocean, accessible to all;

2- Use a platform to obtain AI support metadata and collect information on use and users;

3- Encourage teachers from all areas and all cycles to create and use learning objects;

4- Create “smart” applications capable of using the available information to suggest lesson plans, combinations of objects, possible collaborations between teachers and classes, etc. (to be defined according to the needs revealed by the teachers)

5- Create a federation of repositories for teaching, operated by a platform capable of obtaining responses from repositories based in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Note that the concept behind the digital formatted document is Learning Object (LO)

Artificial Intelligence in the repository

To make content more visible and usable it is intended to use A.I tools such as intelligent search engines, authoring tools, adapted interfaces and active participation by schools and institutions that promote science.

Some examples of utilization are:

• Support systems for cataloguing & object type identification, with Automatic (semi-) filling of metadata fields and an adapted interface. Is necessary to achive different audience in the LO introduction

• Recommendation Systems with flag learning objects for those who do research. Is also relevant to flag other objects based on previous objects.

Awards