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Head to the beach with our 360 Digital Experience

Not near the sea? Dive into our 360 Digital Experience that will bring the sea, to you. From learning about ocean pollution to exploring real-life rockpools, the Ocean School Digital Experience will help you to feel connected to the coast, no matter where you are.

Enhancing and understanding Ocean Literacy (OL) is key to delivering action on climate change. Defra (2021a): Ocean Literacy in England & Wales

Welcome to the Ocean School Digital Experience

OCEAN SCHOOL IS ALL ABOUT CREATING A NEW CLASS OF ACTIVIST. YOUNG PEOPLE WITH A HIGHER LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE, ENERGY AND RESPECT FOR THE OCEAN.

For anyone living away from the coast, learning about the ocean and the importance of protecting it may feel inaccessible. Or even irrelevant. But we’ve got news for you. You don’t have to live by the coast in order to protect it.

Take me to Digital Ocean School

 

Everything starts with a connection.

Whether you live 5 minutes from the coast or 5 hours away, Digital Ocean School will transport you across UK waterways to begin your journey as an Ocean Activist.

From producing over half the oxygen we breathe, to regulating the earth’s climate and weather patterns, a healthy ocean is pivotal to all life on earth.

So we’ve created an immersive 360 digital experience that will help young people feel connected to the coast, understand critical issues and know how to take action, no matter where they are.

What is a Digital Experience?

It’s exactly what you think it is. It’s a way to immerse yourself in a coastal environment but on a screen.

From the moment you enter Digital Ocean School, you’re in control. You can explore the coast in your own way. From moving around the 360 home screen image, discovering facts and watching inspirational videos; to diving deeper into Ocean School activities by connecting with, exploring and protecting the coast.

Why digital?

We’ve taken thousands of young people to the beach for our Ocean School sessions over the years. But this is just a drop in the ocean, and often we aren’t able to reach the young people that would benefit most from this experience. Young people in inner city areas away from the coast. Young people with disabilities that prevent them exploring the beach. Young people without access to blue spaces. So we set about to change this. To create something truly accessible. To make ocean education a powerful tool for change.

Through creating a digital platform for Ocean School, young people can join us from anywhere and take part in their own Ocean School experience.

Going to the beach. Feeling the sand. The sea. The air. We know that digital can’t replace that feeling. But, creating an experience as close to this as we can using stimulating 360 videos and imagery with engaging motion graphics, provides something that we hope will spark an initial connection for many young people. That connection and interest can then be taken further. Turning information into influence and knowledge into action.

How to use the experience

We’ve designed Digital Ocean School to be used however it works best for you. It’s best suited to ages 9-14 but we’ve had positive feedback from 6-16 year olds. It can be used individually to create a truly self-led exploration experience or as a group or class on a large screen with one person in the navigation seat.

It’s up to you what order you explore the platform but we think the beginning is as good a place as any so hit ‘start tour’ to jump in. From there you can discover the connect and explore activities before finishing with the protect resource where you’ll be set up to take your next steps as an Ocean Activist.

🦶 Connect exercises will help you to feel closer to the ocean.

👁 In the Explore activities you’ll be roaming the coast to discover new things.

✋ And finally, the Protect resource will help you turn what you’ve learned into environmental action.

Find out if mussels have beards and how long it takes for a typical plastic bottle to break down – these activities are a fun way to take action for the ocean.

Join us in making waves of positive change, and remember that every action you take, no matter how small, has an impact.

Additional needs?

No problem! The platform features a wide range of accessibility options for you to customise the experience according to your needs. A few features to note:

  • Dyslexia friendly mode
  • Increased text spacing and sizing
  • Audio transcripts
  • Navigation suggestions

 

Take me to Digital Ocean School

How does this feed into SAS’s wider work?

The Ocean School Digital Experience has been designed to be an inclusive space, providing ocean education for all and opportunities to engage in ocean exploration and activism regardless of location. As an organisation, we recognise that an inclusive voice is a more powerful voice and we want every young person in the UK to have the opportunity and tools to campaign for ocean health. Ocean School is a catalyst for ocean action. Our aim is to inspire young people to understand and take action on our wider campaign ambitions around water quality, ocean recovery, the climate crisis and plastic pollution.

 

Have any feedback? We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]