learningWith today’s sudden change in presentation schedule came a suddenly influx of ideas. Turns out, I was more than ready to give you eight minutes of insight into the learning journey of Kate. Here’s what it looks like:
Past:
- I have always been passionate about the environment and about incorporating environmental education into my practice.
- When it comes to using technology in the classroom though, I was viewing it as more of “it is my duty to keep up with this and teach it” rather than “I wonder what sorts of innovative ways I can incorporate technology into my classroom?”
- Never was there any thought to combining the two.
Guilty!
But that was the PAST (as in two weeks ago, before this class started)
Present:
- Mega lightbulbage going off these past couple of weeks: why not combine the two to get the most out of each?!
- Environmental education and technology can have a symbiotic relationship, just as technology and learning can/should. Let’s use technology to enhance the efficacy/impact of meaningful environmental educatIon.
And how you say? Oh I’m so glad you asked! Read ahead to the future section for some ideas.
** One more thought about my present learning journey before we get there: how cool is the concept of autopoesis? That’s a whole other summative presentation in the making. But I feel so strongly about the fact that students ( and people in general) need to genuinely respect the environment and feel themselves as part of it and not above it if they are going to be environmentally responsible citizens.
Future:
(or, where I hope my learning journey will lead me next):
My work in progress project, which is being fuelled by two main ideas:
- Using social media to foster positive change in the community/environment (both in terms of student and teacher involvement). Check out my cool blog! ://ecoeducatorsvancouver.weebly.com
- Focussing on the power of their symbiotic relationship: using technology to enhance environmental education. This means not using either in a superficial way.
** Also, melding my idea with Jenny’s idea with the mountain of ideas Tess and I came up with in class today.
And a big question: is there an online presence for environmental educators or teachers passionate about including environmental education in their practice?
Answer…well, yes and no.
And finally, here are some awesome resources I have come across throughout my learning journey (some from before this class, many from during)
1. Green Teacher – this is both a book, and, as I just discovered, a great website: http://greenteacher.com
2. http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/index.cfm – both for students and teachers
3. http://theworldinagarden.com – workshops for all ages and levels. Local!
4. http://stanleyparkecology.ca – resources, field trips, news
5. http://www.walkingthetalk.bc.ca – my membership is now pending…seems the most similar to what I was looking for
6. http://www.dearmrharper.com – kinda funny. What are the odds he actually reads those letters?
Kate,
I love your ideas for connecting technology with an Inquiry into an Environmental Issue. Your native plant species vs. invasive reminded me of a field trip my class took to Stanley Park two years ago. We pulled and bagged ivy for a couple hours while learning about the damage invasive species do to our forests. I was thinking we could have made a video of that experience and put it on a blog to communicate with another class from another country. Thanks for sharing your passion and good luck!
I loved your presentation! I am always looking for good local environmental resources for my students and you have a couple I have never heard of before. I really appreciate how you linked your learning in this course to a specific project or theme. It is so nice to get a balance of theory and practical! I will definitely follow your blog.
Some great thoughts and www’s Kate!
I really like how you are taking your passion and finding ways for ICT to help you achieve your goals!
I have been shown that “technology is a tool” picture more than once this week. I can agree and disagree with it. Yes ICT is a way to achieve our goals, and yes it is NOT a learning outcome. However, by using some of those applications and software (prezi, goanimate.com, blogs, videos on youtube, facebook links & likes), you can help students make change, go global, inspire change, and make connections.
How cool would it be if a student made an app for your environmental class? How would people feel if they could plug in a car ride and see how much toxic gas they produced versus a bus or train? What about an app to show how much their paper products = actual trees? And so on… I think we need to remove ourselves from the “hype cycle” and look to what we have for resources and what we can actually use (time, budget, policies, all pending).
I also love how you are going global (being online) and making it local (Vancouver environments). I think that that is SO important as we try to make “real world” connections for our students. Plus by educating the students about local issues, you give them the opportunity to learn, become participating members of their community, find more authentic implications to their learning, and empower them to be part of the change! That is very cool. Keep it up!
Our relationship to the environment and our relationship to technology are not mutually exclusive, although they may be mutually destructive! I do hope your educational endeavours can change that. We can use communicative digital technologies to share information about environmental policy, conditions, and changes. We can also use digital technology to collect data about the environment, to monitor environmental change over time or across diverse ecologies. Its nice to see you have made this connection.