Ocean School makes a splash with Webby nomination

- April 11, 2019

Often referred to as the “Oscars of the Internet,” the Webby Awards recognize excellence on the Internet. (Photo: Ocean School)
Often referred to as the “Oscars of the Internet,” the Webby Awards recognize excellence on the Internet. (Photo: Ocean School)

It hasn't taken long for Ocean School to make a splash.

Launched last fall, the joint online ocean literacy initiative from Dalhousie University, the Ocean Frontier Institute and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has been nominated for a Webby People’s Voice Award.

Often referred to as the “Oscars of the Internet,” the Webby Awards recognize excellence on the Internet and present two honours in every category — The Webby Award and The Webby People’s Voice Award. The former is selected by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the latter through the voting public.

Ocean School is up against some heavy-hitters in the educational website category, including the Smithsonian Learning Lab, Ted-Ed, Google Earth Voyager, and MasterClass.

The initiative’s scientific team is led by researcher Boris Worm through the Ocean Frontier Institute, a Dal-led transnational ocean research hub. The science team collaborates with the NFB to create Ocean School’s educational resources.

Ocean School’s website and online educational platform was built by the NFB in collaboration with the technical design team at Akufen, an interactive studio based in Montreal.

The platform offers immersive audio-visual educational resources that transport students into the watery world of ocean research taking place around the world. Through film, virtual reality, 360 video, interactive games and augmented reality, youth are given a glimpse into marine careers and provided with a deeper understanding of the ocean’s influence on humans and the impact of humans on the ocean.

Fans of Ocean School have until Thursday, April 18 to cast a vote.


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