Meeting Abstract
One of the hallmarks of modern evolutionary and ecological thinking is that diversity is a fundamentally a good thing for natural systems. Here, I ask if a similar line of reasoning can be applied to our teaching STEM fields. Specifically how can increasing the diversity of voices in the classroom lead to a greater integration of new information and increased ability to parse the nuances of STEM lessons. Here I present data from three different classroom experiences that highlight the ways we can use technology to better integrate global classes into the classroom. First I highlight how peer-to-peer learning was used to foster marine conservation in high school youth in Fiji and Chicago. Second I show how social media can be used to facilitate conversations in a post-natural disaster conditions in New York City. Lastly I show how integrating digital and real world learning can help a diverse group of conservation practitioners from the Pacific Islands gain actionable STEM knowledge in an extended workshop format. Taken together these examples show how digital technology can expand the classroom beyond the traditionally spatially/temporal fixed location. From Fiji we see how brining different voices helps personify global climate change, in New York we see how social media can bring together physically disrupted communities and lastly we can see how exposing practitioners to on-line quantitative analytical techniques can improve their on the ground conservation. Taken together we can see that technology can help show students the vivid splendor of life outside the classroom
