Environmental Literacy

For my TE 401 class, we were assigned to create a new technology regarding a literacy. I decided to create a website about environmental literacy. To begin, I searched for websites and domains. Unfortunately, I first created another website, but it didn’t turn out to be free. After working on it for a while, I went to view it and it wouldn’t let me until a paid a certain amount. It wouldn’t even let me go back to copy and paste what I had already written. Needless to say, I wasn’t very happy. I was also much more careful when choosing my next web service to use. I refined my search and found webs.com; this website helped me to easily create and customize a website. This reminded me of another program I’ve used in the past- Weebly.

I chose this literacy because I enjoy learning new information about the environment. I consider myself to be a very environmentally conscious person; I do not eat meat, I always recycle, and I try to educate others about the importance of helping our environment. I took the eco-IQ test and scored almost as high as I possibly could; this is what the test score said about me:

Hommo Excelsius: What are you doing reading blogs on environmental issues? You already know it all!! Spend your time in your environmental activism instead – it will make a far larger difference that trying to learn about that extra 0.05% that you haven’t heard about yet!

This really made me think; why don’t I create a website that enables me to inform others about environmental issues? This is something I am truly passionate about and I feel comfortable sharing my knowledge with the digital world.

Before this project, I would have never equated the environment with literacy. My old definition of literacy was this: “To me literacy is the main component of learning; this not only critical in the classroom, but also in everyday life. Without literacy, an individual couldn’t even find their way about a new place; they couldn’t navigate a map, or read street signs, or even figure out written directions.” Obviously, traditional literacies will play a part in my website because people will have to read as well as listen.

I am working to make my website friendly for all ages. To do this, I will use larger font and simple language. I’m also trying to find a text-to-speech software that is compatible with this website. The website is relatively easy to use. It’s a little bit frustrating that I can’t get rid of some of the tabs, but that’s what I get for not paying. I’m struggling a little bit with uploading other documents and pictures, but I’ll make it work.

I have learned a lot from this website: enviroliteracy.org. The Environmental Literacy Council is concerned with connecting “teachers and students to science-based information on environmental issues.” They have compiled lots of resources and lesson plans for educators. This website has divided the environment into seven main sections: air & climate, land, water, ecosystems, energy, food, and environment & society. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to include all of these groups on my website, but I really like the idea.

For now, I would really like to focus on big environmental issues, like global warming, animal cruelty, and vegetarianism. I’m not sure how broad or narrow my topics will turn out. At this point, I’m just trying to gather a lot of information and then sort through it and decide what to include.

I will continue to post about my progress!