Teaching with Nature and Technology

Natural trip in the Park of the Castle

The last but not the least, these classmates have presented a Didactic Unit that puts together nature and technology! From my point of view this is not an easy thing to do, but they have really accomplished their objective.

BIDI app

The idea is to go on a one day excursion with the students of 5th grade to the Montesquieu castle. There, in groups, they will have an ipad and a route through the forest where they'll find QR codes. With BIDI, an app to read QR codes, they will need to do the activity of the code before continuing the route.

I think using ipads in this activity has also another huge advantage, because leaving your kids alone in an unknown forest can be dangerous, but now, with Wikiloc, teachers can know at any time where are their students with no need of data connection. And you can also use it to fins useful facilities near you, like a fountain, a refuge, a camping,  a shelter, etc.

Wikiloc app

To conclude I want to congratulate these classmates, because they have really understood the chances that ICT offers us in education, but they have not forgotten about the importance of nature. This Unit also promotes both autonomy and collaboration in a secure way. And of course getting to know the environment facilitates children to respect it and love it.

 If you have liked the idea of using QR codes, here there is a link of edutopia where you can see twelve examples of how to use this codes for teaching: Twelve Ideas for Teaching With QR Codes.
I think the 4th one is a good reason for using technology like this:

4. Make Your Classroom Greener

Save a few trees! Instead of making more printouts than everyone needs, give your students a QR that takes them to the instructions, announcement or assignment. It can save you space on your wall, and keep your classroom greener.

Who said nature and ICT where not compatibles?