Malls, Guns, and Conservation
What do these three things: malls, guns, and conservation have in common?
Teaching science is a wonderfully fulfilling endeavor. Making it memorable by tying it to student-relevant and “non-science” experiences is what I love to do.
In creating a “virtual field trip” set of activities set in an easily accessible online world; keeping science relevant has been a guiding principle in the work Ener Hax and I have been doing in Enclave Harbour, a Reaction Grid hosted OpenSim estate.
Teaching science through rote methods suck.
Who wants to memorize the first 50 elements of the periodic chart of elements? Does it mean anything at all to know that a mole of any gas is 22.4 litres at standard temperature and pressure? We know where we stand in terms of STEM careers in the US and we could do better. Middle school and high school is not the place to weed out kids from science, it’s the time to fire them up about the wonders of viewing the world with greater science literacy.
Despite making science a generally miserable experience for the majority of students, we still are known for incredible achievements in science and having the best science education available.
But what if we had science be what it really is? An integrated part of our everyday lives. That doesn’t mean that those students that love and thrive on learning Avogadro’s number and Pi to 200 places would not be allowed to.
Harnessing electricity is a result of applied science but no one denies the benefits or claims it to be against religious teachings (I imagine there are some that do, but you get my drift). Science is simply a framework to view our world in richer detail.
My classic example is teaching that sunsets are red because only the longer wavelengths of light are able to penetrate the thicker slice of atmosphere at sunset. That’s an easier way to relate to wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum than memorizing actual wavelengths. Coupled with that I mention that microwaves are slightly larger than the holes in the door of a microwave.
So what do malls and guns have to do with conservation?
In Enclave Harbour, we are creating a mall for people to get virtual goods for their own use. And like in the real world, malls are opportunities to see how science is a part of our lives. You could discuss the process of having a mall built which typically includes an Environmental Assessment and possibly Environmental Impact Statement. In the case of the mall in Enclave Harbour, you could also speak about the reclamation of a rock quarry (similar to a real world example of a hotel in China to be built-in a reclaimed quarry – thank you Nickola for showing that to us).
Here is an example, within the mall, of an activity to help connect real world and relatable topics to environmental conservation:
The Enclave Harbour Marine Patrol has a boat on display at the mall entrance. In reading the display sign, it mentions that the boat's guns can be used to fire paint balls. How are paint balls used as part of forestry conservation? Hint: use the internet to look up the "Nelson Paint Company".
Why build a social presence?
Following and exemplifying “best green practices” is important in our new Reaction Grid project. Getting that word out is part of our mission and one reason we are so adamant with social networking.
The iliveisl “brand”, as well as Ener Hax as the spokesperson, is the focus we have used. Ener never wanted to be in the spotlight, but has grown to love it (and be obsessed with it – 17,000 Twitter followers and daily blog posts).
The term “brand” is so sterile but seems to be the best fit for discussing effective social awareness. The purpose of the iliveisl online voice has always been to share what we find wonderful about virtual worlds. It’s not sales oriented and is meant to show the “adventures” of a day-to-day avatar, Ener Hax, and perhaps help others see virtual worlds through the eyes of someone very passionate about them.
Ener’s passion is easily 10 times greater than my own and certainly more involved. In the last week alone, Ener has built a marine patrol boat, a “megamall”, and a secret meeting space. Plus many small details like putting in a road, blogging daily (sometimes twice daily), meeting with new people in-world, and so on.
As we define our focus for Enclave Harbour (even redefine the name on Ener’s request to be the proper spelling of harbour), we are using our social presence to spread the word on environmental issues. I am very proud of our Corporate Social Responsibilty consultant for following a similar online strategy and becoming recognized by Environmental Leader and become one of their bloggers (his first post with them). I work with Matt and we often talk about the best way to get your message out.
Everyone with a Twitter account seems to call themselves a social ninja, but in reality, there are a few simple things you can do to become better known.
Why is that important?
Depends on your goals and in the case of Matt, it is to help promote environmental responsibility.
The simple plan revolves around a key aspect that typically can not be faked or gamed. Passion and knowledge and Matt has both. He founded and chairs the Green Committee at our company (which was the first commercial LEED-certified building in New Hampshire). The next ingredients are straighforward, and like iliveisl, will lead to high online visibility.
Effective blogging, tying into something like Flickr and YouTube, and connecting all the bits together with Twitter. Those three things will carry you a long way. There are additional items, such as a gravatar account, LinkedIn integration, and so on that may be specific to your needs. Facebook is big of course and a “fan” page may be applicable. Ning groups and a wiki may be good fit for you as well.
When using third party social sites keep in mind that they can change their terms at any time and even charge for their services. As long as you keep control of your main content in something like a blog, then changes in social platforms will not be as big a deal. MySpace was “the” choice five years ago, Facebook is now that choice, and something else will come along and be the next new choice.
It is vital to have one central place to point your viewers and a blog works well for many endeavors. Companies with multiple blogs often dilute their messaging and a better strategy may be to have multiple authors on one blog. I am more likely to go to one place for information on one company than to chase down a handful of blogs. Allowing to sort by author, as on the iliveisl blog, let’s the viewer decide what they want to see.
What’s your reason for social networking? Job hunting, online portfolio, a cause, hobbies? All valid reasons and likely to aid others.
