Celestia Forums

Well, since a couple years ago I started to get interested in promoting culture, and that implies of course, education.

I realized how much kids need a chance to have dreams, something to believe, the magical dream we had when the first Star Wars trilogy just came around. People can dream on the stars. But there is not to much chance lately.

I was deeply convinced that Celestia could fit that role. However in my country there is not too much chance to bring hi-tech stuff to many kids, so I got the idea of making a comic.

I thought about using Celestia pics for accuracy, but it would lead to legal considerations on copyright, mostly from add on makers. So I decided not to use add ons, and as far as I can I should render pics on my own, using Celestia as reference only. Except for Saturn and "asteroid moons", I can render all planets on my own. I guess asteroid moons could be rendered using some 2D tricks. So it left Saturn only.

So after solving the problem, I took the next step. I needed to see how kids react to Celestia. Gee, they love it!!

I also realized that a comic doesn't need to be absolutely photorealistic. So I guess I might take some "artistic licenses" to make space a bit more fantastic.

I realized that making the comic "too real" via software, might bring fantasy down. I also felt more pleased to know there are not legal considerations when I make my own comic and my own renders.

I decided to make a render based on Celestia (mostly based on size comparison) and I guess I like my pics a bit more. May be because I feel I created them.

As I showed Celestia to kids today, I felt fine about seeing them fascinated with the experience, something that the comic can't bring. But it was interesting and satisfying to see them so fascinated.

I got the idea of tring to convince school principals to get a machine powerful enough to run Celestia. However, it might not be possible for public schools to do that, only private, for public ones are tied to bureaucracy and they lack the skill to install add-ons.

So I got the idea of giving them Celestia, installing it in their computers, and creating good relations so I can work as teacher at a given time.

That way, it doesn't get commercial and I could get a job as soon as there is a vacancy.

I already started a digital music workshop at a school, some months ago. Not precisely a "job", but an extra not to run completely out of money (or at least not so quickly). I now can see the potential of culture to make kids grow as a person.

I might share this experience with you if you are interested...
May be it could be useful if you get involved in an educational project.
Comic project will have to wait, and I will try to make it on my own. May be not so real, but more fantastic indeed. And it also might have the merit of being my own creation as a whole.

Dear ar81:

It is great that you are interested in furthering the educational use of Celestia.

The good news is that this summer, I will be updating and extensively changing all the Celestia Educational Activities, so that they work faster on lower end machines. Changes in Celestia code are in the works that will let me do that.

I will know more after I test out these changes, but I think a typical school computer (usually a P3 or P4 with Intel built-in graphics) will be able to run Celestia, and all of the Educational Activities.

It is interesting that you mentioned music. I am a high school Astronomy teacher, and I have hundreds of students taking Celestia journeys each year. Music in an absolutely essential part of their experience. I play a streaming net radio station that has lots of space music stations on it, as a background to all of my student journeys. My kids love it, as they cruise space.

You can do a lot for students if you can work with teachers to bring music into their classroom, as part of the curriculum. I even play soft ethereal music in the background when my students take quizzes. They love that also.

Regards,

Frank G