NatureWatch Observations

Using iNaturalistNZ to build 21st Century capabilities in students

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iNaturalist app

In my previous blog, I wrote about my largely personal reasons for getting involved in iNaturalistNZ (by downloading the iNaturalist app for Apple or Android).

In this second post of this series, I look at reasons for educators to use iNaturalistNZ. In doing so, I structure my arguments around the Vision for our young people, from the New Zealand Curriculum 2007 (NZC). Note: text below that is italicised denotes that it is quoted from the NZC.

I also talk about the role of iNaturalistNZ as a digital technology for teaching and learning, and in building digital fluency, a key 21st Century concept. I point out where the role of the teacher is particularly important, and make suggestions to get you started with iNaturalistNZ at school.

The vision for young people

The Vision espoused in the NZC is for young people to be:

  • connected
  • actively involved
  • confident
  • lifelong learners.

NZC

How could using iNaturalistNZ help?

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Contributing to your community as a non-scientist using iNaturalistNZ

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iNaturalistNZ

Our modern world is incredibly busy and complex. There are so many new things coming our way that we can’t take them all in, let alone act on them. However, every now and then we are exposed to something new, which turns on a whole lot of light bulbs at once.

For me, it was being told about iNaturalistNZ, part of an international initiative called iNaturalist. In this blog, the first of a series, I will tell you about iNaturalistNZ and why it appeals to me as an educationalist, as a parent, and as someone simply interested in the Living World. I will also tell you about my journey so far with iNaturalistNZ, and hopefully tempt you to start using it too. My next blogs will look at the rationale for using iNaturalistNZ in formal education settings and delve deeper into iNaturalistNZ as a tool for learner agency in a globally connected world.

What is iNaturalistNZ?

iNaturalistNZ is a tool for all citizens that makes it easy for us to contribute to a living record of life in New Zealand. From the crowd-sourced data we create, scientists and environmental managers can monitor changes in biodiversity. iNaturalistNZ enables anyone with the iNaturalist smartphone app (Android or Apple) to record their observations of living things like plants, birds, and insects, and upload them to the Cloud so the iNaturalistNZ community can identify them and analyse them. It’s like iTunes in that the mobile app is used when you are out-and-about, whereas logging into your account from a bigger device like a laptop allows you to manage and organise your observations, and communicate with the iNaturalistNZ community.

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Once upon a story time

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story time

Do you remember story time on ‘the mat’ when you were a kid at school? I certainly have fond memories of the teacher telling stories, some from memory, but most often from a book. We all had our special places to sit and habitual behaviours that seemed to help with concentration as the story was being read. It was a time, usually in the afternoon before the home time bell went, when the whole class was relaxed and focussed on what the teacher was saying.

To be continued …

As a teacher, I too, continued with this tradition. At teachers college I learned about the benefits of reading to my students, but, at the time, I never really thought about the way this seemingly simple act of storytelling had such a positive effect on the students. Story time had the affect of unifying my class. Sitting together as one; quiet, listening, and with imaginations in full swing, watching the action unfold in front of the mind’s eye.

I enjoyed watching the students’ reactions out of the corner of my eye as I read crucial parts of the story. I remember the groan of disappointment as we finished a chapter that left us all hanging in suspense — to be continued the next day! And I was always impressed with what the students could recall about the story, even if we had had a break from it for a week or so. The story also created many opportunities for lively discussion that often promoted learning opportunities in several areas of the curriculum.

Several chapters later

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Encouraging healthy STEM growth

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I am counting down the days until I leave for a LEARNZ field trip to Antarctica. The planning and preparation for the journey has been intense: everything from completing a medical to creating a website for students to follow the adventure.

A few days ago I met two members from the science team that we will follow while down on the ice. Inga Smith and Greg Leonard made time to chat about the work they will be doing from a field camp on the sea ice, 15 kilometres away from New Zealand’s Scott Base.

Inga is a physicist and interested in the interactions between the ocean, ice shelves and sea ice, but she is also passionate about equality in education. Our conversation quickly changed from: why the melting of ice shelves can lead to more sea ice over winter in parts of Antarctica to how can we encourage more women to study physics?

Inga produced some sobering statistics about the lack of women studying STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects at university and when I did my own research I have to admit I was startled by the results:

  • Women in New Zealand make up less than a quarter of those studying for a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and just over a third of those studying for a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.
  • There are approximately 31,000 architects, engineers and related professionals employed in New Zealand. Of these, only 13.2 per cent are female.
  • There are approximately 22,000 physical science and engineering technicians employed in New Zealand, 16.1 per cent of whom are female.
  • The current level of female representation in engineering is low compared to other professions, such as accountancy, law and medicine.

While considering these figures we need to remember that women represent 51 per cent of the population and 47 per cent of the workforce.

enrolments-in-bsc-graph

These numbers are particularly concerning when we take into account the fact that girls perform as well as boys in Year 13 mathematics with calculus, physics, and chemistry. So why are more female students choosing to study biology-based subjects rather than physics, IT and engineering compared to boys?

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Global connectedness and frame of reference

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A few weeks ago students on a LEARNZ field trip were backstage at an opera; last week they were in the Wellington Mayor’s office talking Smart Motorways. Next week they’ll be searching for kea nests in the Southern Alps. All LEARNZ field trips are journeys to the unfamiliar.

Travelling to Antarctica is another step-up in unfamiliarity. Inside Scott Base life is mostly familiar; but outside presents a new normal. It’s common to see people walking and skiing at one o’clock in the morning. For students and us, it’s a new frame of reference.

Right now Shelley and I are preparing for an Antarctic science virtual field trip. Students on this trip will join a NIWA science team trying to find out why sea ice in Antarctica is increasing while it is disappearing in the Arctic.

Mt Erebus
Mt Erebus in the far distance from Hut Point Peninsula, framed by the Ross Ice Shelf on the far right, and sea ice on McMurdo Sound on the far left.

An opportunity to learn about frames of reference

In guiding student learning to prepare for this virtual journey, we are exploring ideas around frames of reference. The things that make us what and who we are and give us our point of view define our frame of reference. Our reality. One person’s reality may be very different from another.

Two people stand facing each other on either side of a street. A car drives past. One person sees the car moving to the right. The other person sees the car moving to the left. Two different frames of reference; two different observations. Our frame of reference determines how we see and understand the world. It’s influenced by our geographic location, who we live with, our beliefs, our education, our culture.

Our frame of reference can limit our ability to understand issues and to think critically. Part of a picture only tells part of a story; what you see is not always what you get.

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