Drawing on data from interviews and observations conducted in four schools, it is suggested that the teachers missed many of the opportunities afforded by the outdoor environment to enhance children's learning. This paper discusses the findings of a research project that aimed to document the current use of the outdoors by a group of early years teachers working in South Wales. While the framework is currently being piloted across Wales, full implementation will not take place until 2010 for many schools, then, this is a time of transition.

The Foundation Phase framework promotes a play‐based approach to children's learning in both indoor and outdoor contexts and places children's well‐being and their personal and social development at its core.

In 2001, the Welsh Assembly Government announced proposals for a Foundation Phase for children aged three to seven years. The assessment of this initiative, carried out by the undergraduate students during the pilot study showed that there is a distinct need for connecting real spaces with technology and for familiarity with the tools that help pupils visualise the space and that Google SketchUp could be an effective tool that is easily applied to this project and can enrich geography lessons for pupils in upper primary and lower secondary education. The aim of the project was to create awareness of spaces and their functions, and to redesign those spaces using Google Sketch up according to criteria relating both to the environment and the needs of pupils and their education. The educational project involving the design of a school yard using Google SketchUp, presented in this paper, was originally designed and implemented by undergraduate students at the Department of Primary Education of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UoA) in the context of their studies in the â€œTeaching Geography with ICTâ€ course.

Google sketchup for schools