View from the Corner Room

Youth and the Natural World

This looks like a great companion to all the technology workshops that I attend. It is nice that this is happening in Maine and that Gov. Baldacci is trying to to bring attention to this issue.

After reading Last Child in the Woods, which from a teaching point of view the first half was of interest, I have been dealing with how to get my students and laptops out of the building and into natural settings. When looking at technology be it laptops, Smartboards, web2.0, Wii, etc. nature is not always the first thing that comes to mind or to the workshop setting.

Here in Maine a few programs that I have been involved with where nature and tech meet are Maine Lakes Conservacy Institute and the new Maine Explorer software on the MLTI laptops. We need more of this sort of opportunity as education gets pulled towards technology and needs more nature in its delivery.

I hope that this event is as well attended as some of this falls technology gatherings.