A friend posted this video on his Facebook page:

Which illicited this response:

I dig it… but they left out the natural world… they talk about technology and community… community is best modeled in ecosystems in balance… symbiosis, commensalism, mutualism, parasitism.. not sure where nature fits into their di…alogue… but its most often left out when we get seduced by technology… my internet wont work here when it rains too hard!

One thing is for sure… we cant live without the ecosystem services provided by the natural world… but technology tends to removes us from that reality when used they way it has been used up until now… the school of the future should arise from the natural community and landscape where it is.. not be superimposed and plonked on top of it…

I dig it.. but they left out some crucial stuff… methinks!

To which I responded:

You make some great points Kenny, and I agree completely, but we must be careful not to make the issue of technology versus nature black and white, as many do when discussing technology. There must a balanced approach, and I agree that kids need to be reminded that the natural world is even there at times. It is a shame when you see young people more engrossed in a text message than a passing cloud, but we cannot hold the technology responsible for what is basically a cultural void and migration away from the natural world. Sure the tech has helped speed this up, but if put in the right hands the tech can also be a tool to bring us back to nature and community.

I see the social web and the gadgets that connect us to it, as mere reflections of our personal and cultural norms. What you put out there and what you share is an echo of what rustles in your soul, and for kids unfortunately this tends to be nothing more than shallow noise. But what if, we awaken in them a love of nature, art, and community and teach them how to use the tools they already love to share, connect and build solutions.

Remember at the other end of every screen is a person. These tools are not pulling us apart, they are bringing us together. What we say and what we share is up to us. Do we use Facebook as a place to chatter or have deep conversations?

Look at this thread, how can we move kids to this point?

This is an issue I have been pondering for some time- the dialectic between technology and the natural world- I know I did not even come close to doing it justice with this quick free write, but I would love to hear your thoughts as I begin to flush out my ideas further. What do you think? Can technology be used as a tool to move back toward nature? What is the role of nature in the digital age?