GHOU endeavors to bring high quality astronomical data and education
to a growing global community of educators, scientists, and students
in the GHOU community.
Over the past ten years, GHOU has grown from a few teachers sharing
e-mail to a significant global community of nearly 1500 or so
scientists and teachers. GHOU recognizes and benefits by the advent
of the tremendous advances in astronomy data, the ability to share
and utilize such data around the world, and the realization that
student and teacher learning can take place effectively when a
working responsive collaboration is formed.
GHOU holds tremendous potential to advance the world's education
and scientific enterprise: By building enthusiasm and skill for science
early on, in all students and teachers, we have some assurance that
sound decisions and positive development can be made not only in
science and engineering, but also in the civil world at large.
GHOU is advancing slowly but steadily to provide such resources to all
teachers, scientists, and students in the world. A small network
of robotic telescopes is being strengthened, and real time observation
will become easier and more practical for all participants.
The International Virtual Observatory (IVO) is developing rapidly,
and will enable large amounts of high quality data to be put into
eager GHOU hands soon after acquisition from powerful ground based
and space based telescopes.
Space Observatories and Space Data is being made available to the
public as part of the IVO, and images of extremely high resolution,
or energy ranges unaccessible from the surface of the earth will
soon be in the hands of the GHOU community.
Finally, powerful Internet tools, such as the Collaboratory, will
now allow students to share reports, data, mentor scientists, and
publishing in the new Student Astrophysical Journal.
These are exciting times for space and astronomical science and
education, and GHOU certainly holds answers for improving the quality
and quantity of science and education.
