Step 2: Ask the right questions
An important first step is understanding your sphere of influence and working out where your workplace is on its sustainability journey.
What is your institution or sector already doing to tackle nature loss and climate change? Many Universities will have a sustainability strategy or similar, but does it include reference to your area of work?
As Digital education and Educational Technology is a wide-ranging field, we've broken it down into 5 areas. Take a look at the areas below to see more detail.
Pick the area that resonates most with you and review what is being done with regards to digital education and digital technology in your workplace. Use the questions below to get you started.
Financial
How can we make financial decisions that are better for the climate, and nature?
This could include reviewing procurement and the supply chain for Learning Technology Equipment, and IT software and hardware including the VLE and Educational Media.
Starting questions
- Q. Is sustainability factored into your procurement process? Can you set criteria to your purchasing based on a company’s environmental credentials?
- Q. What standards are new suppliers asked to provide?
- Q. What discussions can you have with existing suppliers about sustainability? How can you work with your suppliers to influence their process?
Workplace
How might our workplace be kinder to the natural world and reduce emissions? This might include reviewing and adapting in person physical learning spaces and online spaces.
- Q. How can you find out about the environmental impact of your learning spaces (online and in person)?
- Q. What forms of meeting/working/learning are available to staff and students?
- Q. Could you analyse factors like transportation emissions and energy consumption – from raw materials to finished product delivery to compare different types of tools and technologies?
- Q. Are the physical learning spaces being designed to be as energy efficient as possible?
People
How might we engage the people we work with? This could include student and staff support, training and guidance. Ideally any approaches should incorporate and include accessibility and inclusivity to emphasise the holistic nature of sustainability.
- Q. Is the environmental impact of educational technology tools included in your guidance and training?
- Q. How can we bring people together to promote discussion around these issues?
- Q. How can guidance best be disseminated?
Teaching and learning:
How might we embed sustainability and sustainable practice into teaching? This could include curriculum and learning design, assessment and feedback design and processes, learning and teaching approaches and the use of educational technology to develop and deliver teaching and learning.
- Q. Is the climate crisis embedded into curriculum and learning design?
- Q. What choices do you make about hardware, software and data retention?
- Q. Is sustainability considered in the learning experience? Do you offer low energy and Wi-Fi options? Are your assessment and feedback methods taking into account carbon emissions and energy consumption?
Policy
How might we create a climate and nature friendly culture? This could include working on institutional policy, committees and working groups with regards to the areas above.
Starting questions
- Q. How might we encourage policy makers to incorporate climate considerations?
- Q. Which pre-existing policies might we reassess?
- Q. Can you identify any institutional policies where your role can support sustainability progress?
- Q. What institutional committees and working groups can you be involved with and influence?