Why we want kids to use technology: Devices - illinois

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CONSERVATION
Why We Want Kids to Use Technology
Devices can help bring kids to nature and the outdoors
By Richard J.Dolesh
N
ot so long ago, NRPA caught heat from some members for an ad we
ran in the magazine. It showed a picture of a hiker who was obviously
in a backcountry area of a park, typing on a smartphone. The caption
said "You are here. So are we," and the subtext encouraged people to connect
with Parks & Recreation Magazine's online editions. For some, this indicated
that NRPA was turning to the dark side — a sign that we were succumbing to
the temptations of technology — and generally, this was a bad thing.
Funny what a difference a little
time can make. Parks and recreation
agencies are now embracing technology to connect with visitors and
provide them information about programs and services. But there is still
some lingering suspicion that the
use of technology is a distraction to
kids, rather than an aid, in the effort
to reconnect them with nature and
the outdoors. Some old-school naturalists, program leaders and environmental educators would rather kids
put their cell phones away and pay
attention!
Well, it's not going to happen, and
the sooner all of us adults get the picture, the sooner we can move on. We
won't be prying their smartphones
from their clutching fingers. Kids
would rather be locked in a windowless room for hours (with their smartphones) than walk in the woods for
15 minutes without them.
No, the answer is not to try to take
them away or somehow silence them.
The answer is to embrace them. Yes,
it's a stretch, perhaps one of the
bigger ones we will make as adults
who are concerned about kids losing
touch with nature and the outdoors
as we look for ways to reconnect
tnem, but we might as well get over
it. Kids are now joined inseparably
with their technology, and we will do
far better to make lemonade out of
lemons than go around with a sour
face thinking it wasn't like this when
we were kids.
Just to illustrate, recent research
shows that 78 percent of youth aged
12-17 have a cell phone, and of those,
two in five have a smartphone. Seventy percent of households with a tablet
say that kids under the age of 12 use
it, and three in five parents in these
homes say their kids use the tablet for
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| MAY 2 0 1 3 | P a r k s & R e c r e a t i o n
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CONSERVATION
educational applications. Tellingly,
three in four teachers say that using
technology in the classroom motivates kids to learn.
Parks and recreation have a vital
role to play in connecting kids to
nature and the outdoors, and while
this historically has been part of the
mission of many park and recreation agencies, there is a new sense
of urgency. One indication of how
strongly we believe in this is the level of support that has been shown
by the nearly 600 NRPA member
agencies that signed onto the 10
Million Kids Outdoors initiative
launched last fall by the National
Wildlife Federation in cooperation
with NRPA.
'••••'••
•••:;••
career pathways
21st century economy
Many new resources
can enhance a nature
•o'
experience for kids.
In addition, parks and recreation
have an important role in creating
environmentally literate citizens and
taxpayers as well. We provide the living classrooms and laboratories for
youth to have field experiences and
learn lessons about conservation, climate change, energy conservation
and other challenges that we face in
dealing with our natural environment.
Clearly, the creative use of technology
will help us achieve all of these objectives, and in fact, it wiH be essential to
how youth will assimilate, share and
benefitfi-omknowledge.
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) has been
looking into the increasing use of
technology for environmental education and has produced an outstanding
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green tech's impact
short video (http://bit.ly/13IOGw3)
as well as a number of other resources, including a summary of the Top
Ten Apps for environmental education, a tool kit and a wealth of materials on their Environmental Education Week website (www.eeweek.
org). Other organizations are also
providing excellent online resources,
such as eNature's FieldGuides (www.
enature.com) and Project Noah,
which provides an online information exchange and networking to promote understanding of wildlife and
pathways to citizen science {www.
projectnoah.org). The North American Association for Environmental
Education (NAAEE) is studying innovative ways that environmental
education promotes STEM (science,
technology, engineering and mathematics) learning (www.naaee.net).
Many new resources can enhance
a nature experience for kids, while
online tools allow leaders to employ
the scientific method, find additional knowledge and enrich the outdoor
experience.
This is a subject of keen interest
to parks and recreation. Look for
more on this subject in the coming
months, including a webinar by the
10 Million Kids partnership on the
use of technology in environmental education. Congress education
sessions and an open discussion
forum, and new information and
resources on the NRPA website,
NRPA social media and in Parks &
Recreation Magazine.
So, fear not — pick up your smartphone or tablet, join some kids outdoors and see how much fun you can
have using technology to connect
kids to nature.
^
Richard J. Dolesh is NRPA's Vice President of
Conservation (rdolesh@nrpa.org).
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