Issue link: https://takingitglobal.uberflip.com/i/1542824
R. Adeboye, C. Flewelling,V. Ogbole, E. O'Sullivan 39 key reasons why access to external expertise and high- quality, ready-to-use sessions was so valuable. Connected North's provision of materials kits for hands-on activities were also mentioned as an important benefit in remote locations where accessing specific materials could be a challenge. Finally, a few interviewed teachers mentioned that just the novelty of being taught by someone other than their regular classroom teacher could support student engagement, a sentiment also reflected in the teachers' survey 22 . As one teacher stated, "I could do something similar, perhaps, with them, and they wouldn't be as engaged, but because somebody else is presenting to them from a different perspective, then they're interested." Some teachers noted that, while it might be technically possible to develop and deliver Connected North–like sessions independently, it would not be realistic. They emphasized that a major benefit of Connected North is how it brings together multiple high-quality learning opportunities in a single, accessible service. The extended interview excerpt below illustrates the intensive—and often less than fruitful—effort teachers can invest to create even one session comparable to those provided through Connected North 23 : …it also is a one-stop shop. And what do I mean by that? Okay, so back pre-covid teachers were starting to kind of dabble on their own looking for people, and there were different sites set up, and I could call universities and say, 'Hey, I'm really looking for this expert in this.' You know what, I had nothing to offer. I couldn't give any money. I couldn't get any professor to come and talk to my class, even virtually…my kids and myself offered them nothing. They didn't want to spend the time talking to me, so if I was able to make a connection it would be one sided: Youtube. I don't want to knock Youtube. There's lovely stuff out there, but it is 'watch and learn,' but that's it. There is no interaction. There's no two-way. There is no deepening our learning… If I'm going to deepen the learning…it is put back on me, and I don't know where to go looking for these answers. I don't know how to find these answers, and I'm grasping at straws again, looking to connect with people who will write me back and answer, or going to other websites, that…it's just using so much jargon that I can't make my way through on this science topic that my students want to know 22 A similar finding was reported in Laursen et al. 2007. 23 Although not a peer-reviewed study, a survey by an organization that organizes guest speakers for schools explored challenges teachers faced in organizing such talks independently. It found that "Finding volunteers from the desired sector or profession is the most common challenge state school teachers face in running talks (flagged by 64% of teachers), followed by lack of time to organise (50%)" (Education and Employers & Speakers for Schools 2019, p. 27. "I think that the support that they give by including everything that's needed for the workshops is very important up here…You know, the community I'm in is 300 people. So it's very difficult to get, say cotton balls. There's no pharmacy. So Alka-seltzer, or things like that. We just can't." -Teacher Interviewee