HANDS-ON SCIENCE. EDUCATION ACTIVITIES. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF DISTANT AND ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING (Libro en papel)

The current COVID 19 pandemic situation has been extremely demanding to all of us. The human tragedy that daily unfolds in front of our yes, the social distancing, the uncertainety on our lives, puts a huge pressure and stress on everybody. Including, of course, on teachers and educators. Once more Science appears to everybody’ eyes (with few exceptions…) as key to the solution of this problem. And fortunately, the appreaciation towards Science, and STEM, is once more increasing making the task of us science educators and teachers a little bit easier and surely even more rewarding. However, these times of distant and online Teaching and Learning demanded and are still demanding a major adjustment on the way we educate our students. We learnt new tools and methods, we adjusted to the digital to the online and to the virtual (that must be "real"…). But we are still strughling trying to find “new” anwsers to fundamental questions, that we always had to deal with, and some essentially new: how to communicate? how to lead the students to learn?... how to emotionaly relate with the students? how to "see" what they really feel? what "help" they need? how to have empaty and to make student feel that we do care and want to support them? How social distancing is being processed by our children teens and young girls and boys? The resilience of us humans is amazing and that is also true for our youngsters. They certainely suffer but resist and persist… What can and what should we do or not to do?... What digital and online tolos including communication and social media can we and should we use? and how? What is true and what is fake…?. The book herein aims to contribute to the improvement of Science Education in our schools and to an effective implementation of a sound widespread scientific literacy at all levels of society.