The Nanochannels Teachers Training Sessions

From the use of nano sensors in medical diagnostics all the way to nano-based sunscreens and GPS jackets, pupils across Nanochannels’ 20 schools are already poring over a selection of nano-dilemmas chosen by their teachers during European Schoolnet’s two captivating virtual training sessions.
Prompted by a very substantial teachers’ training kit distributed by European Schoolnet and ORT (the Israel Sci-TechSchools Network) back in September, each teacher debated the personal choice of 3 preferred dilemmas to be fed into an overall production by students of around 200 articles, the best of which will be published in the project’s mainstream national media partners – such as The Guardian, El Mundo, Il Corriere della Sera and Radio 24.
That makes a staggering 10 articles per school of about 300 words each. Until next February the turnout of every Nanochannels classroom’s debate is also expected to include 10 Tweets, 10 posts on Facebook and other national social media and 5 presentations or videos.
Between January and May one single nano-dilemma of choice will be the basis for a live “role play” debate in each school involving the participation of at least 20 students, one scientist, one NGO representative, one nanotechnology industry stakeholder and around 20 people from the pupils’ local community.
The culmination of each debate will be the publication of a Nano-Carta by the students, encompassing their school’s own and brand new nanotechnology ethical code, which will be posted on social media networks, and a list of suggested public actions to be taken. Finally, in May each teacher will report on the activities according to the project template provided by European Schoolnet.
After the two virtual teacher training sessions, which took place on September 29 and October 20, the ball is now firmly in the students’ court.  Out of the 10 nano-dilemmas, teachers picked the first three they considered as priority, but promised to submit them all to their classroom anyway, after making allowances for a basic age group distinction.
Interestingly, the chart that came out of these two rounds of discussions shows that the dilemma about the use of nano sensors for medical diagnostics comes first and is way ahead of all the others. This is considered to be more suitable to the 14-18 year old age group as it involves striking a fine balance between the need for early detection of a disease and the necessity to protect patients’ privacy in the absence of any specific legal restrictions.
The potential benefits and risks for the environment of nano-based solar cells come second in the list of chosen dilemmas, which are called as such because they involve a range of ethical, legal and social aspects which will impact on future generations. The use of sunscreens containing nano TiO2 or ZnO is a close third: should they be regulated differently from other sunscreens?
Nanotechnology’s potential to improve human brain capabilities makes for a fascinating debate. So is the Internet for everything dilemma, which comes fifth in the teachers’ own chart: do we want to live in a world where everything is observed and open to scrutiny?
GPS jackets, the potential last resort of worried parents wanting to keep track of their wandering brood, involves choosing carefully between the benefits of safety and the safeguard of privacy. The use of nanoparticles in smart labels to detect food freshness and the risks linked to human enhancement respectively follow. The list is completed with the quantum dot revolution in the light bulb, while the use of nanosilver woven into antibacterial socks slid to the bottom of the priority scale for students – in spite of all those smelly training shoes.
 
EditCo: Maria Chiara Bonazzi Aspden