I would like to share how my philosophy of practice is developing and changing as a result of what I am learning in EDPB 530/531.
As an educator and as a human being, I find my soul rooted in Principle 14 of the Earth Charter, "to integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values and skills needed for a sustainable way of life" (earthcharter.org). I am also influenced by the work of Richard Louv, David Sobel and other eco-pedagogues, who call upon educators to address the impacts of nature deficit disorder on our young. If eco-pedagogies are the roots of my philosophy, then technology is the budding new growth. It has taken a full turn of the seasons for me to see the new growth that technology has to offer. In terms of technology, I am interested in any technological tool that facilitates, enhances or deepens ecological learning. A quick google search of the terms 'eco tech', 'enviro tech' and 'green tech' reveals a variety of emerging and connected fields within sustainable engineering and applied science. I appreciate the fundamental premise that environmental technologies include methods of designing future societies within ecological frames (EcoTechnics '95 - International Symposium on Ecological Engineering). This suggests that, within an 'ecotech' framework, biodiversity and conservation are primary concerns of human development. In other words, any use of technology that threatens biodiversity and conservation of natural systems is not 'ecotech'. For example, a tool such as a drone may be used to learn about and conserve biodiversity (sustainability), or it may be used to survey a piece of rainforest to map out a new palm plantation (destruction of earth's resources). While I believe that it is of utmost importance that our young learners are provided with the opportunity to learn how to use and perhaps even design the technological tools of the future, we must guide them to do so within a context of sustainability. An essential question to guide this learning could be, "How can this technology be used to sustain the earth?" or for younger learners, "How can we use this tool to help the earth?" Given the importance of engaging young learners in stewarding our precious earth for future generations, I choose to embrace the use of technologies in my nature-based, place-based teaching practice. It is my belief that the use of technologies in the classroom should support the fundamental tenets of the Earth Charter. One of the challenges that teachers face in integrating new technologies into their practice is access (cost) and training on how to use the technologies. I would like to continue exploring and discussing emerging technologies in education as I move forward as an educator. Image Attribution, CCO on Pixabay
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Video by Sephelonor on Pixabay, CCO
Heather Fisher
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