BBC NEWS | Technology | Pupils learn in wi-fi wood
Wi-fi wood
For the project, a wireless network has been set up in a wood in Sussex on the south coast of England.
Back at base they can compare notes
Schoolchildren with PDAs and walkie talkies are encouraged to explore the wood, reporting back about wildlife or plants they see along the way.
In the latest trial in late June, pupils from the Varndean school in Brighton spend three days exploring the worlds in pairs.
"When they found something, they described it to someone back at the den, which means they had to verbally describe very carefully what they found," explained superviser Rowanne Fleck.
"They then got a little message on their screens which gave them a little more information and acted as a record of what they found in the wood," she told the BBC programme, Go Digital.
The feedback from the children has been overwhelming positive, with the students embracing this new way of learning about the environment.
"It is a brilliant way of linking technology with the ecology," said technology analyst Bill Thompson.
"It gets away from the idea that using technology in education is about sitting students in front of a computer and getting them typing on keyboards."
This is superb. I want to go and play! Perhaps they could add a Wifi connected camera? I wonder if there is a webcam?
No there isn't! But there are some good pics here, which is the Ambient Wood website at Sussex University COGS department.
They are undertaking the following project called Equator
The central goal of the Equator IRC is to promote the integration of the physical with the digital. In particular we are concerned with uncovering and supporting the variety of possible relationships between physical and digital worlds. In doing this our objective is to improve the quality of everyday life by building and adapting technologies for a range of user groups and application domains.
Perhaps I should do this sort of stuff for a living?
Posted by Paul Goodison at July 3, 2003 01:01 PM | TrackBack