ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the kinds of work that can be done by educational ecology as an applied science. It discusses some ecologically inspired ideas from work on educational issues, to help build foundations for an applied science of educational ecology. The discipline of ecology studies the relationships between organisms and their environments. This conventional definition is widely used. Ecology began as a study of relations between non-human animals and their environments, understanding how animals made themselves ‘at home’. A. Bain & L. Zundans-Fraser view with some scepticism the ability of universities to improve the quality and productivity of teaching and learning activities. More specifically, they argue that few if any universities have made internal arrangements that can improve matters at scale, rather than in small, discrete sub-areas. Rosemary Luckin’s Ecology of Resources model has been developed through reflection on lessons learned, over a number of years, through a series of substantial practical educational technology research and development projects.
