Forests of Life
The Forests of Life (www.forestsoflife.net.nz) project involves a North Island intermediate school using information communication technology (ICT) as they learn about the conservation and regeneration of forests.
With ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’ as its motto, the project aims to foster a lifelong understanding and respect of forests and teach the students the vital role forests have in helping sustain many ecosystems on both a macro and micro level.
Students will plan and set up projects that will explore, locate, identify and monitor forests with ICT supporting their learning and research. The extensive array of technology includes using the internet to record data related to field investigations, developing an online herbarium of plant species, and using hand held technologies to log data about the health of an ‘adopted’ forest ecosystem. Hardware such as laptops, environmental data-recording devices and probes, and digital imaging microscopes will also be at the students’ disposal.
As well as being educational, the type of ICT being used is fun and interactive, and aims to engage the students in developing greater awareness of the importance of ecosystem care.
For a more rounded perspective, students will also look at forests how are viewed from a social, cultural and literary perspective.
The students’ research will be co-ordinated and supported by Massey University and Ensis (formerly Forest Research). ICT training and support will be provided by technology partners HP and Macromedia Australia, and project partner, Revero Web Specialists.
