Web‐based Photonics Training for a New, Flat World Available to Purchase

The New England Board for Higher Education (NEBHE), in Boston, Mass., USA, developed a professional training course, “Introduction to Photonics,” through Project PHOTON2, funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. The course is designed for high school and community college educators from both science and technology instructional areas. In the last two years, the Center for Science Education and Training (CSET) at the National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Bucharest, Romania, coordinated a nation‐wide educational networks “Hands‐on Science—Romania” devoted to the improvement of science education in schools. In spring 2007, CSET initiated an international collaboration with NEBHE, when the Center enrolled an experienced Romanian high school science teacher in the twelve‐week PHOTON2 “Introduction to Photonics” laboratory‐based course. The paper describes shortly the PHOTON2 Project and presents the results of how the Romanian teacher has begun to share her experiences with teachers and faculty at CSET and the Romanian “Hands‐on‐Science” program. This international cooperation is the first step in designing and running an educational project in photonics with a global impact.