Discovering Edutopia (Technology and Sustainability)

After listening to an NPR spot, I decided to check out the website for Edutopia, a website from the George Lucas Educational Foundation (who knew that he did more than Star Wars?  And that his site has been around since 1991!).  To my delight I found the website interesting and worth the half hour of time I spend perusing it.  

Edutopia uses six core concepts that create their comprehensive vision for a new world of learning and "a place where children become lifelong learners and develop the technical, cultural, and interpersonal skills to succeed in the 21st century."  

• Project Learning (long-term and student-centered)
• Social and Emotional Learning (cooperative learning to build character and teamwork)
• Technology Integration (using technology to create personalized learning)
• Teacher Development (coaching and guiding with the human touch)
• Comprehensive Assessment (measuring social, emotional, and academic achievement)

I then went on a crusade to find out what the website had in terms of sustainability education and here are some of the highlights of my search:

Sustainability-themed video games come to the classroom!  

I know, sounds kind of scary right?  Allowing students to play video games in the classroom?  I decided I shouldn't knock it before I tried it.  The game, PowerUp, is put out by IBM and it's pretty sophisticated.  When I taught middle school, sometimes I'd let my students play this McDonald's supply and demand game and they loved it.  But let me tell you, PowerUp makes my McDonald's game look pathetic.  The graphics are amazing, the music is engaging, and I was excited to play even after the promo video.  But what I believe to be the important part about all of this is that it does the following things: 1) it makes learning fun.  That's not to say that you can only have fun playing video games, but that playing games IS fun to do, and 2) there is a social aspect tied into the game.  Get a bunch of kids in a room and I guarantee they'll be talking to their friends about it.  The combination of a fun + social + educational game is a win in my book.  

 Reading, Writing, Recycling: One Oregon School is Making the Planet a Better Place

Hey, hey, Clackamas High School made it into the website in this great article.  Did you know that Clackamas HS was one of the first green schools in the nation?   Yep, the school's silver level LEED building has earned them praise due to their abundance of natural light, recycled ceiling tiles and plastic toilet partitions, solar panels, pollution solutions,  and recycling efforts. 

There's plenty more to learn about this website and sustainability efforts in the cyber world and in Oregon.  

Topic for discussion:

Do you think allowing students to play a "sustainability" video game will make a difference in their day-to-day interactions, or will they see it as "just fun" and leave it at that? 

 

Change is here -- but is the outlook for K-12 bright?

With our new president Barack Obama now in office, I am hopeful that change is now here-- and that sustainability will continue to be on the forefront.  The website www.change.org is a social entrepreneur venture from San Francisco that has gotten major publicity recently.  Their campaign "Ideas for Change in America" fueled grassroots participation with the promise and hope that these ideas would reach President Obama with the people's concerns.  The campaign received almost 8,000 ideas, more than 600,000 votes, and more than 175,000 participants.  

The good news is that after a long standstill at position number 12, "Develop and Implement a National Strategy for Sustainability" pushed it's way to a Top 10 idea.  Ok, so what exactly does this plan mean and how will it be used?

The idea for "Develop and Implement a National Strategy for Sustainability" stems from the 1992 (and 2002) UN Rio Earth Conference, because uh-oh, although the United States said that we'd reduce our environmental impact, the truth is we haven't done enough.  

The US Citizens Network for Sustainable Development (see the website here), sponsor of the strategy, suggested the following things to help achieve the Strategy*: 

• green building practices; transitioning to renewable energy; protecting and restoring the natural environment; limiting toxic chemicals; investing in all types of green jobs; adopting sustainable business practices; educating for sustainable development; ensuring that all people's basic human needs can be met; and integrating artists, engineers, educators, and restoration scientists on infrastructure, restoration, and sustainable community projetcts; etc. 

These are all great things, but here is what I wonder.  Obama has already announced his education plan and sustainability is no where to be seen.   While the first priority for K-12 education is to reform No Child Left Behind, I don't see any mention of No Child Left Inside (NCLI) as a possible--or additional alternative.  There is nothing about sustainability curriculum in the "Make Math and Science a National Priority" or in mention of teacher preparedness and support.  

And while we have heard great promise for millions of new Green Jobs, it is worth mentioning that most of those jobs seem to be in  energy efficiency, home weatherizing, and clean coal. (See Obama's Energy & Environment plan here).  

I do still have hope for change in K-12 education.  It's wonderful that the National Plan for Sustainability made it to the Top 10 of our nation's concerns.  But I have to wonder to what that will really translate.  

Topic for Discussion: Even though I can't find it mentioned anywhere, do you think that Sustainability in the K-12 sector will be adequately addressed?  Is my outlook more pessimistic than it ought to be?  What do you think?  Share your comments now!       

* Italics my own

 

Leadership and Sustainability

This comes from Teacher-net's sustainable school section but I think it makes a really valuable point about leadership and sustainability.  

"Placing sustainability at the heart of school culture is a challenging but rewarding task, a task being taken on by forward-looking school leaders across the country

Ultimately, your leadership is a culture of change that will be judged 

as effective or ineffective not by who you are as a leader, 

but by what leadership you practice in others

Topic for Discussion: 

Five questions for school teachers:

1. How can your school embed in the care agenda - care for ourselves, care for others, and care for the environment - as a distinctive commitment?
2. How can your school involve all the school's stakeholders in decision-making about sustainable development - balancing short-term interests with longer-term goals while considering the needs of the environment, future generations, and other communities?
3.  How can your school develop individuals with the knowledge, values, skills, and self-confidence they need to make positive contributions to their family, their community, their job, the environment, and the wider world?
4. How can your school's curriculum best address sustainable development while contributing to each student's enjoyment of learning, and their need to keep learning sustainable behaviors over their lifetime?
5. What style of leadership and management does the school need to promote lasting school improvement through a joined-up approach that integrates best value, best practice, and sustainability?

2009 with SOSI

It is hard to believe that we are already full-swing into 2009.  Here at the Sustainable Oregon Schools Initiative we may not have many resolutions, but we do have big plans for the year.  You can expect 2009 to be a year of new topic area teams, wrapping up current ones, and moving forward with our Sustainability Management System pilot program.  

Personally, my resolutions are simple ones but I know that if I really accomplished these ideas (like producing more DIY crafts and making my own cleaning supplies, being more of a locavore, and driving my car less) I'd be on my way to reducing my carbon footprint.  I like the idea of "1 thing."  It is sponsored by the radio broadcasting company Entercom, but the concept behind it is that we can all do one small thing every day that together makes a big impact.  The general website is here and there is even a Portland-specific link.  While at the site, be sure to check out the link for schools.  

Topic for Discussion: 

What is your new year's resolution?  What is your resolution for your school/district?