A New Era of Science Education
Can you imagine not being able to do a quick google search or a quick browse on YouTube whenever you need information? You’d spend weeks and weeks searching for information, not even sure that it’s out there. Nowadays you don’t even have to think about it! All this is possible thanks to the huge arsenal of tools that were opened when science education was brought to the online world. All the information that you need can be found on the internet in many different forms that range from engaging podcasts, to inspiring Ted Talks. Online science educators are using all of these new tools to make learning more fun and digestible. This gives us viewers a chance to find the content that is right for us, and brings the freedom to learn whatever we want and whenever we want to.
In the early days of YouTube, the site that we seem to run to for almost anything these days, small communities were forming around certain niches, science being one of them. Some science television channels migrated to YouTube, but a lot of individual scientists started to build a following on the site as well. Some of these early online educators were Hank Green and his brother John Green. They began producing educational content through the channels 'Crash Course' and 'SciShow'. Throughout the years these have branched out into more channels and even podcasts. 'Crash Course', which might be familiar to a lot of students, tackles many different courses of study, mostly based on the AP curriculum of the topic, making them great for high school and early college learners. 'SciShow' on the other hand mainly focuses on breaking scientific news, in-depth analyses of scientific concepts and science history, and science fact compilations. These channels work because they find ways to make the topic fun and engage with the audience. Both channels even have spinoff channels meant for kids, giving younger learners an entertaining educational resource.
This niche slowly filled every corner of the internet, more recently, reaching TikTok. Videos found on TikTok are usually around 3-60 seconds in length so creators have found ways to fit bite-sized science topics into short video lengths. Hank Green, for example, branched out from YouTube to posting content on TikTok too - he has gained a huge following on TikTok, with a whopping 1.5 million followers as of October 2020! Some of his videos on TikTok revolve around answering his viewers' science questions and some of the videos are also just random and fun videos. This interactivity is what I believe makes TikTok very good as a platform for science communication.
An emerging creator on TikTok who I wanted to highlight is Jorge Calderin, aka @doodlesinthemembrane. He graduated with a degree in chemistry and is now pursuing a graduate degree in biochemistry and structural biology. As you can tell from his online handle, he loves cell membranes and his content generally revolves around them. He provides free infographics (Fig. 1) for biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and organic chemistry, blending his art skills with his love for science. His infographics have garnered him a big following (I mean who doesn’t love FREE resources?). Along with these infographics, his videos on TikTok serve as short explanations while he goes in more depth on his YouTube videos.
![Figure 1: Example of Jorge Calderin’s infographics (Action Potential doodle.) [1] ](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e2a22a2ca128a771ade8d50/1606843854096-HAVFNLOYHBEUEVZUPS9L/Gif+showing+the+action+potential+at+a+cell+membrane.)
Figure 1: Example of Jorge Calderin’s infographics (Action Potential doodle.) [1]
He makes sure that these resources remain accessible, since as a student himself, Jorge has seen the exploitation of learners for profit. Jorge loves making random doodles when he’s in coffee shops and one time he decided to post one of his infographics on reddit. When he realized people liked this sort of thing, one thing led into another, eventually coming to TikTok. One of Jorge’s biggest inspirations was Crash Course. The conversational language of Crash Course resonated with him, inspiring him to use that same style for doodlesinthemembrane.
In the online world it’s even easier to find your passions. What Jorge finds most important is finding what you want to do and sticking with it. You know it’s your ‘thing’ when it’s all you want to be doing even when the dreaded online classes are calling you.
Everyone learns at their own pace, and you know what? That is okay! Online, you have the freedom to learn anything that interests you without having to worry about grades or tests. That love of learning and endless curiosity is what makes us grow as STEM lovers!
Further, figuring out your learning style, strengths, and even weaknesses can help you become even better at what you do. And, with the help of all these new educational channels and resources online, you can find what can help you best.
“If you find yourself doodling cell membranes in a coffee shop, realize that you’ve just found it! And when you’ve found it never let go.”
Science isn’t simply just black and white. Working with the arts is what enables deeper understanding of key science concepts. Just like how Crash Course inspired Jorge, there is hope that more new creators like him continue to inspire future generations of scientists and STEM lovers by providing everyone with a new perception of science communication.
References
[1] Jorge Calderin. “Action Potential Animation Infographic,” Doodles In the Membrane, [Online] Available: https://doodlesinthemembrane.com/products/action-potential-animation-infographic?_pos=1&_sid=6b1b89560&_ss=r
