Students camp out on the Reef
CAMPING out under the stars on the Great Barrier Reef has just been made part of the Australian school curriculum.
The first Great Barrier Reef night and day citizen science program has been launched by Sunlover Reef Cruises and group marketing manager Sarah Butler said the innovative project had already hosted 27 students from an international school affiliated with Peking University.
“As part of the inaugural Marine Biologist for a Day +
Astronomer for a Night program, students camped out overnight Australian-style in deluxe swags at Sunlover’s Moore and Arlington Reef Marine Bases on the outer Great Barrier Reef, more than 40km off Cairns, as part of their trip with Australian International Student Tours,” she said.
“The new dual program builds on Sunlover’s highly successful Marine Biologist for a Day educational program by adding an astrology component, which is aligned to the Australian school curriculum.
“Students are given binoculars and planispheres to learn about the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere and how they are used for navigation.
“During the day the students joined our marine experts, including a Master Reef Guide, to participate in the Marine Biologist for a Day program.”
Australian International Student Tours chief executive Tanya Ferguson designed a bespoke marine science program to build the students’ knowledge of Queensland’s marine environment and the human impact on these fragile ecosystems.
“The 12-day itinerary started in southern Queensland and took the students north along the east coast examining a number of marine environments before their night on the Great Barrier Reef,” she said.
“It was an amazing experience for the students and teachers as both Sunlover and the Great Barrier Reef put on a great show.
“Not only did they have the once-in-a-year opportunity to join a Master Reef Guide to watch the coral spawning, the marine biologist said it was the best coral spawn in five years with extraordinary water clarity for the event.”
IT’S A WRAP FROM SPOTIFY
YOU’VE probably heard about Spotify’s ‘Wrapped’ campaign.
The streaming service summarises users listening habits, and shows them the songs and artists they’ve listened to the most over the last year.
While this information is fun (or in some cases a little embarrassing – I mean, surely you didn’t listen to that much Disney music? – Spotify has also released some illuminating data about podcasts.
Spotify revealed that it now has more than 500,000 podcast titles available and that listeners have grown by more than 50 per cent in 2019.
Podcast hours listened to by users have also increased by 39 per cent since this time last year.
This podcast boom has been a great pay-off for Spotify.
Earlier this year, the audio giant purchased podcast owner, Gimlet, and production tool, Anchor, in anticipation of growth in podcasts.
Advertisers have been quick to capitalise on the growth of podcasts, particularly after Spotify gave them the ability to target podcast listeners specifically on the platform.
Read more @The Drum
A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM GOOGLE
GOOGLE has released a list of the top 10 GIF trends of 2019. For those not in the know, a GIF is an animated image, often with a caption.
GIFs have grown in popularity, in a similar way to emojis.
They allow people to express emotion or context in addition to text, often in a humorous way. In fact, we’re beginning to see brands using them in an effort to connect with their audiences online.
So, what were the top 10
GIF searches of the year?
Psh
Oop
Hustle
Oh man
Peasant
Dad joke
No regrets
Everything
Beast
Not happy
Would you consider using a GIF in your digital marketing?
NEW INSTAGRAM GUIDELINES FOR TEENS AND PARENTS
THIS year has seen Instagram look more closely at the wellbeing of its users.
Earlier this year, visible like counts were removed to help curb rampant comparison culture, and now a toolkit has been released to help teens and their parents navigate the psychological impact the platform can have.
The guide, titled A Toolkit Addressing the Pressure to be Perfect was developed with The Jed Foundation, which promotes emotional health for teens and young adults.
Instagram explains, “Pressure to be Perfect is about recognising that what you see posted by others is just one part of their story – a single post or video rarely reflects all that is happening behind the scenes.”
Now that’s a message we can get behind.
Looking for more leading advice from the digital marketing experts at News Xtend? Find out more at ww.newsxtend.com.au or call our expert James Comino on 4052 6604.