On April 15th, I had the pleasure of working with Rob Ridley: https://rangerridley.wordpress.com/about/, host of the weekly EnviroEd Twitter Chat ( 9PM Eastern ), to co-moderate on the topic of accessibility, inclusion and outdoor and/or environmental education, with a special emphasis on reducing what is popularly known as nature deficit. The concept of nature deficit was popularized ten years ago by Richard Louv in his acclaimed work, The Last Child In The Woods: http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child/.
The chat was lively and active with questions and suggestions. You can read a Storify summary of the chat here: https://storify.com/EnviroEd/twitter-chat-on-enviroed-topic-accessiblity-and-in. For the latest chats (as of today on Earth Day sharing) & basic chat information visit: https://storify.com/EnviroEd/ or follow @RangerRidley on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RangerRidley. Via EnviroEd, I was able to share with parents, teachers, administrators, students and environmental stewards from around the globe in a manner, if not unthinkable, certainly less affordable or practical just fifteen years ago. Changes in social media are facilitating this collaboration, but individuals with a passion for sharing are the driving force behind using this media for productive ends beyond marketing. As we grow into the 21st century, individuals are demanding more authenticity and passion when looking for engaging media over marketing tricks, not that those tricks don't have a few things to teach educators when trying to get important lessons out to others. Ridley is one of several educators leveraging social media for maximum outreach, so I learn a great deal working with him and the other EnviroEd chat participants. What I didn't know--the same time I was working with Rob Ridley on the EnviroEd chat, Nature Matters, a local nature club I'm volunteering with, founded by Norfolk Academy Student Mariah Moss, was attending the Children & Nature Conference in Texas where they chatted with Richard Louv: http://www.childrenandnature.org/site/conference2015/. The entire situation was somewhat ironic, mildly frustrating and amusing because of communication delays due to intensive schedules and some spotty coverage. Only AFTER each event did Suzanne Moss, club sponsor and Mariah's mother, and I realize we were on the same page, topically, if not in the same time zone. Ideally, this would have all dovetailed together seamlessly in a perfect synergy for social media coverage, but people miss many opportunities waiting for ideal moments. In this case, nothing was coordinated because I simply did not know what various parties were doing in advance. Suddenly, there was activity from several individuals all working towards similar goals without knowing one another and without any advance warning. This became another moment for on-the-fly learning as I demonstrate the connections, the links through reflection. As Nature Matters updates their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NatureMattersToUs/timeline?ref=page_internal and website: http://naturekidsandteens.com, I'm working on their Twitter handle: http://twitter.com/NatureMattersVa. More about their reflections on the Children & Nature Conference and how they relate to the EnviroEd topic of accessibility and inclusion coming in the next update!
0 Comments
I am testing various web-building tools and apps for educators, community organizations and even a local family farm. I decided to test-drive Weebly, after noting other educators with Weebly accounts. I then read several positive reviews, which I will include as resource links in the next update.
For now, I'm just eager to see how things look after publishing. I don't have too much in terms of bells and whistles at the moment because I wanted to first test Weebly for the learning curve and speed to publish a nearly bare-bones site. So far, I'm impressed! UPDATE: Excellent overview of Weebly by Howard Steele: http://superbwebsitebuilders.com/weebly-review/ |
Tracye Lynn "Willow" BoudellI survive and thrive by learning on the fly! Archives
January 2020
Categories |