Agavi

20/02/2025

Are you a student in Brazil looking for a paid internship opportunity? Apply to join the Agavi team! Applications close 28 February.
http://agavi-application.notion.site/

23/06/2022

Starting next week, Alex will be leading a Romanian student programming team that will be working on Agavi while learning React, a programming language we are using to develop Agavi. He'll be piloting a three week internship and education program.

22/04/2022

We welcome Fiorella (Peru) and Iulia (Romania) to the Agavi project. They will be working on the student interface as we move towards an initial deployment in the next few months.

15/04/2022

Last week, we were on a scouting expedition in Guapiruvu, São Paulo. We visited this agroforestry community to observe two weekend public outreach events on native bees. We also explored the community to understand their educational pathways and community structure. We'll be revisiting this community with some Agavi prototypes soon!

10/03/2022

We have arrived in Brazil! We'll be working over the next few months to implement Agavi in the Amazon River basin. Interested in getting involved?

1) Contact us! We'd love to get more hands on deck
2) Contribute to the GlobaGiving fundraiser for the project: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/amazon-river-school-digitalization/

04/03/2022

We're recruiting summer students! If you are an undergraduate or recently graduated undergraduate student, you can apply to work on Agavi through our partner Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. Additionally, you will receive training in public speaking, social media, and ethics in science. Applications are due April 15th.

Note: We have now launched the applications for the 2022 YSP! Applications will be accepted until 15 April. BMSIS provides opportunities for college students and recent grads to participate as Research Associates with our institute, providing opportunities to participate in basic research and to lea...

16/12/2021

This week, all new monthly donors to our projects will have their first month's donation matched at 200%! Your donations support work in 21st century education technologies and approaches for the developing world that can also be used everywhere else!

https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/64891/science-voices/

09/12/2021

5 questions for Alex Gazdac, one of the programmers for the Agavi project:

1. What’s your background?
During high school, I attended the Informatics Olympics and I have been part of the high school robotics team. I am currently studying Informatics Engineering at the University of Madeira, Portugal. Besides college, I am a self-taught full-stack and blockchain developer, a profession that got me involved in the hackathon and startup scene around Romania and other countries where I have the right environment to develop various skills, extend my network, and get involved in projects with a great impact, such as bringing online hackathons to Romania when the pandemic started.

2. What drew you to the Agavi project?
I saw the project when exploring a list of projects in the Data Natives Unlimited Hackathon. Being a recent graduate of high school and facing the problems of E-Learning education during the pandemic, the idea of being able to get involved in a project that will solve the problem that I, my colleagues, and a lot of students and teachers around the world are facing, sounded appealing.

3. What are some of the hottest trends you're seeing in the Romanian ed-tech sector?
After the COVID-19 pandemic wave forced the transition to digital education in Romania, the use of digital tools rose exponentially. For startups in the field, this has brought an incredible growth opportunity. The major trends include finding ways to integrate the latest technologies (such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality) and gamification into the learning process. The other is providing ways to extend infrastructure to remote areas at minimum cost and developing tools and methods to bridge gaps in digital skills.

4. What Agavi features excite you the most?
The features that excite me the most is the ability to design the lessons in a fast and enjoyable manner and for the student to be able to go through the lessons at their own pace. The ability of teachers to observe student progress and modify lessons based on previous real-time results is also very exciting.

5. Where do you see Agavi a year from now?
I see Agavi with a more extended team working on the project and finding solutions to improve it and our tool used by students and teachers all around the world.

02/12/2021

5 questions for Dr. Ihor Bubniak, one of our teacher testers located in Lviv, Ukraine:

1. What and where do you teach?
I teach a number of courses for students of geology and geodesy (science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's shape) at the Institute of Geodesy at the National University of Lviv Polytechnic, including geomorphology, structural geology, hydrogeology, and engineering geology. I also work with students out in the field.

2. What types of courses interest you the most?
I like to design courses with high-tech components.

3. What kinds of technology do you use in your classroom and out in the field?
We use MOVE software, which is used for geologic modeling. We also use drones and laser scanning when we're out in the field. In the classroom, we use Moodle and Zoom, especially during the pandemic, to organize and deliver lectures and laboratory classes online.

4. What are some of the biggest teaching challenges you are facing with the recent COVID surge?
The biggest problem is the inability to organize traditional lessons and classes using the digital tools we have. Another problem is that it is difficult to organize students and ensure student attendance online.

5. What would you like to do differently with your students?
I would like to create virtual geological outcrops to use in my classes so that it is easier for my students to get access the places we have difficulty getting them to.

30/11/2021

GlobalGiving's Move-a-Million campaign has started. From now until end of day (US Eastern Standard Time), donations help us win a share of the $1 million matching pot. Support any of our Agavi-related projects today!

We work on improving equity in digital science education. Through the co-development of new tools and learning experiences, we are helping overlooked communities improve their ability to teach, learn, and use science.

29/11/2021

A message from Lev Horodyskyj, founder of Science Voices (which is building Agavi) about end-of-year giving opportunities. Help us get 2022 off to a great start!

November 30th: Matching through GlobalGiving
December 13-17: Matching for new monthly donors through GlobalGiving

25/11/2021

On this (American) Thanksgiving Day, a very special thank you to our volunteers from around the world, both past and present, who are helping bring Agavi to life!

Thank you, Bianca Ilca, Alex Gazdac, Jonathan, Manuela, Shahkar Hassan, and Wayne Parkhurst.