Using Eco-Sensors to Support Children's Participation in Environmental Health

Abstract

School has a major role in preparing young people to participate meaningfully in a context where digital technologies are increasingly mediating the way people interact with the surrounding environment. The goal of the research reported in this paper is to study how children can participate in school environmental health, using eco-sensors and digital technologies in scientific inquiries. Eco-sensors are used by children to acquire, analyze, interpret, and communicate data, as a support to the identification of problems and to their own environmental health decisions. This paper presents two case studies, one centered on noise and one on indoor air quality, in Portuguese elementary schools. It is a qualitative research that highlights that children can participate in authentic and meaningful environmental health problem solving in schools. Problem solving is developed through scientific inquiries that include children epistemic practices, scaffolded by teacher mediation and epistemic mediators, such as eco-sensors and other digital technologies.