Nature + Tech Experiences: Taking Digital Learning Outdoors

What happens when technology gets students off screens and into nature? Join Colleen O’Rourke, Leader of Digital Innovation and F–10 Digital Technologies Specialist Teacher at Hills Christian Community School, for a practical, hands-on exploration of how simple and affordable technologies can deepen students’ connection with, curiosity about and understanding of the natural world. Drawing on real classroom projects, Colleen will share a range of Nature + Tech experiences that can be adapted across year levels and learning areas. Explore digital outdoor storytelling using free tools, bring nature stories to life through augmented reality, investigate the tiny details of ecosystems with outdoor digital microscopes, and create rugged robotics challenges that get students designing and problem-solving outside. Discover how inexpensive 360° cameras and free web-based tools can be used to capture places, tell environmental stories and document change over time through interactive virtual and VR tours. Experiment with environmental data and sensors, weatherproof audio recording and hidden interactive “nature buttons”, and explore how geocaching can turn outdoor spaces into places for discovery, inquiry and storytelling. This session is about using technology with nature, rather than instead of it. Come ready to experiment, create and leave with practical ideas and tools you can take straight back to your own learning environment.