Day: July 16, 2008

I have been reading Richard Louv’s “Last Child in the Woods” and I do recommend the book. The author laments what he describes as “nature deficit disorder”, correlates nature deficit disorder with various maladies, identifies possible causes, and recommends solutions. I think there are many quality ideas in this book – most probably stretched a little too far. I agree that the reduction in free play has probably contributed to health problems in children and the rest of us. It make sense to me that as a society we have become overly fearful of low probability evenrts and intimidated by potential liability claims (Louv does cite Flinklehor – but I think he spells the name incorrectly – Finkelhor). I do think that experiencing nature probably is a better way to encourage preservation of nature than dealing with nature in the abstract. I am less certain about the connection between instructured experiences in nature and a reduction in ADHD and depression.

I am guessing Louv is not a big fan of technology, but he lumps computer-based activities with television viewing and assumes that computer-based activities are intended as substitutes for other learning/play experiences.

Cindy and I were able to create an early niche among those preparing future teachers to use technology because we argued that technology allowed learners to experience the world in more beneficial ways. This has been described as a “tools” model. I thought an advantage at the time was to confront stereotypes. Learners do not learn from technology, but use technology as a tool to help them learn. The best uses of technology may not be to provide information, but to help learners process/understand the information provided by other means. Technology does not offer a substitute for a field trip to a nature preserve, but taking technology (videocamera or digital camera) on a field trip improves the immediate and follow-up experience. We talked about multimedia authoring to learn as a variant of the generative/constructivist notion of writing to learn.

So my priorities – digital cameras, blogs, wikis, and field trips. Lower priorities – Second Life, games, etc. Process real experiences when possible.

Back to “Last child in the woods”. Louv talks about generations and how predispositions in the present genereated are encouraged by early experiences with parents. Of course, the concern is that lack of access, fear, and alternative diversions will prevent an appreciation for the natural world as experienced rather than as an abstraction from developing.

I am not worried about my kids or their kids. My kids are living in an urban setting and engaged in professional careers. They are probably more committed to providing physical world experiences for their children than we were with them.

One special note. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to take summer camping trips. One of the benefits of being unemployed in the summer. Camping and travel by car used to be relatively inexpensive. Alaska has been the destination several times and our kids now say that these trips were special. Our youngest daughter decided to follow an interest kindled long ago and spend the summer working in Alaska on a whale watching boat. We were able to convince her to generate a blog – the last entry describes the bears that broke into here garage. Hard to beat such experiences as grist for some pretty interesting stories.