Hello all,
I am currently working on creating a program for the state park I work at the get visitors to use more citizen science apps like iNaturalist, eBird, and Merlin. I am trying to find a way to not Soley use a PowerPoint to explain and didn’t know if anyone had any ideas or previous experience. I would love any suggestions and resources to help explain iNaturalist and promote it. I want my program to introduce the app and its function to visitors and then give them an incentive like a scavenger hunt to go around our park to observe a variety of life forms in doing so making people realize how much variety of cool creatures are all around them. Our programs typically are an hour long, so I was planning to do 20 mins introducing the app indoors with a slide show and then the rest of the time taking visitors outside to use the app. * Also not too keen on using forums this is my first post, so I hope I am posting this correctly*
If there are two staff that can present, a skit might be a fun way to introduce the apps. If it will just be you, see if you have Generation Reel on staff or as interns and can they make a short video set in your park.
We actually use a skit for summer staff training to show how to (and how NOT to) lead a hike. It seques into discussion and a more formal presentation of the material but I like how it shows rather than tells.
One issue — not limited to iNat, but true for everything — is that you learn by doing.
In other words, you could create the best iNat intro program in the world. The best one ever created. There are many resources on this forum that will help you do that.
But the only way to truly learn is to use the platform for years. If you read the forum, you will find many comments from people who used iNat extensively for years, only to learn some shortcut that massively increased their workflow.
Once you know it, it seems obvious, and it is mind-boggling to you that you functioned for years without knowing it.
Learning by doing and making mistakes.
I tend to favor the approach of “you watch me do it → we do it together → I watch you do it” (if we want to get more into the weeds with educational theory, it’s a really rough simplification of some of Vygotsky’s stuff.) If you have a way to screen mirror a phone or tablet to your tv or projector, that helps a lot. If not, lots and lots of screenshots to mimic the steps. (And remember that the screens are going to look a little different android vs apple and now with iNaturalist Next. Honestly, I don’t recommend including the website in a introductory program.)
The other key part here is that participants need to make their first independent observation before they go off on their own. You probably won’t eliminate troubleshooting in the field, but you want to reduce it as much as possible. Showing you their first obs is the “ticket” to getting the scavenger hunt sheet to start the semi-independent portion. Typically, at this point, you should have a plan for a significant discrepancy in how quickly people will get the hang of using the app. If you’re planning on a the second portion being a guided hike, make sure that you have something for early finishers to do while you get those who need some extra time get caught up. Otherwise, a station approach can work: give participants a small area to explore on their own once they feel confident, but you stay in one spot where participants can hang back if needed, or return to with questions.
Some other thoughts/tips:
Know the limitations of cell service and wifi for your area!
Have QR codes out as participants arrive with written instructions and pictures for downloading and creating an account, so they can start this independently while waiting for instruction to begin.
Throw in some “quiz” slides into a powerpoint, and have people determine what’s “wrong” with an example observation. This can also be a way to walk through the DQA. You can also pick out which are the “best” observations from an example set (ex. multiple pictures of a plant that clearly show leaves, flower, and whole plant- things that aren’t needed to post an observation, but understanding what’s ideal especially if users want to get IDs)
I have found Seek easier for people to learn. And if they just want to identify things without posting their observations for the public to see, that’s the best app for them to use. The way it makes you get multiple angles for a correct ID helps teach people to get more than one photo. Saltair_house posted a cute reel on Instagram about taking good plant photos for iNat, it might give you some ideas. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI2fWSkP9gc/
We were planning a scavenger hunt with one of our state parks but ultimately didn’t get funding for it. It would have involved several categories like “yellow wildflower”, “shrub”, “bee”, “non-insect invertebrate”, etc and anyone who made observations in the park in all of the categories got a small prize. In Seek, users can pull up their list of observations but it doesn’t filter by location. You can check each one if you want to be a stickler but mostly we’re happy if people just go outside and look at wild organisms.
I understand the reasons, but I do recommend mentioning that there is a website and that it has additional functionality beyond that of the app. Perhaps add that the website is especially useful for those who want to get more into identifying rather than just observing.
This is a good clarification- absolutely let people know that the website exists. I just don’t try to teach the website and the app simultaneously. For the purpose of instruction, they’re two different skillsets.
I’m not trying to say this in a way that’s mean or judgmental, but the average tech literacy is very low when I’ve taught “intro” programs. It’s not uncommon for people to try to hand me their phones with the expectation that I will navigate to the app store and download it for them. It’s great that people are stepping out of their comfort zone, and it makes sense that this is the type of audience that self selects; people who are really comfortable exploring the app on their own usually just do that.
I’ve become much more successful by drastically simplifying the ‘base’ lesson, and then having time after to continue practicing those skills, or ask questions to dive deeper.
This all totally depends on audience type though!