Technology and Learning Base for Sustainable Energy Conservation

The aim of energy conservation design is to provide two types of sustainability in terms of important energy topics: eco-friendly technology and eco-friendly humanity through building awareness from childhood. Most research concerns technology design such as electrical appliances for energy saving, but the research that will be discussed is to build awareness for technology users by creating awareness in children from the age of 7-12 years old, covering elementary school grades 1-6. This is suitable for elementary school students according to Skinner’s theory of learning.

. Awareness is needed to change attitudes to develop eco-friendly human behavior

Energy Awareness
To build awareness about energy saving requires B.F. Skinner's theory of learning and Edward L. Thorndike's law of exercise or repetition.
B.F Skinner: The Operant Conditioning Theory by Skinner in the 1950s in the United States was caused by critical lack of effective teachers. He thought of teaching aids to improve the education system, introducing the Program Instruction or Program Learning and Teaching Machine. Skinner's theory of learning and operant conditioning holds that there is a relationship between behavior and the environment. That is, the effect of the behavior influences the behavior, whereby the conditions will apply reinforcement. This is a very common technique used today. Following experimentation with animals in the laboratory, it was then found that the method can also work well with humans. Operant conditioning is the idea that the stimulus will produce consequences or effects. There are three basic laws of learning: the law of effect, the law of exercise, and the law of readiness. In this study, the principal focus will be the law of exercise, which holds first of all that the S-R connection becomes stronger when used but is made weaker when not used. Therefore, when an idea is used repeatedly, it is more likely to be well remembered. It is also the case that students will rarely learn difficult subject matter in one lesson. Instead, the instructor must repeat the key content at regular intervals to ensure it is retained. Therefore, there are three main ideas to follow: 1. The connection is firmer if it is used often but is weaker when not used. 2. Anything that is done repeatedly or is always practiced, will be done well. I do not like anything that has not been done for a long time.
3. Any behavior that has been done in the past will result in the completion of the action of the behavior. If there is no chance to use it, even often repeated actions are likely to be forgotten. Even if they are not forgotten, they cannot be completely corrected.
Furthermore, research studying the habits of children found that if a child grows up to eight years, then the habits that are embedded in the child are difficult to change. This study therefore aims to develop awareness of energy conservation in children who are 7-12 years old.

How to Build Awareness
This paper intends to bring animation and games as a form of Program Learning to build awareness in teaching children of elementary school grades 1-6 (aged 7-12 years). The "Awareness of Energy Conservation" is a form of program learning media that has been developed for students in the age range of 7-12 years using computer-aided learning. At present, the teaching is focused on the learners, and the nature of children is such that they will be interested in media focusing on animation and games. The researcher focuses on using the instructional media involving animation and games during elementary school to be taught continuously until the 6th grade. In the present time, we have seen more and more energy consumption, and as a result, a curriculum focusing on conserving energy and the environment has been developed at Kulno School, Phimai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. The sample participants were 35 grade six students selected by using purposive sampling. The evaluation consisted of four areas. First, the development of a curriculum focusing on the conservation of energy and the environment included 4 units. The statistical tools were used to analyze by considering the mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The results showed that as expected, after following the curriculum, the students had greater knowledge and awareness of the conservation of energy and the environment after training at the 0.05 level of significance (Jiwwiset, 2011).
In a review of the relevant literature by Moijue Kaikai and Erin Baker, it was reported that there are very few SEE investigations, although a small number do examine some of the SEE sub-categories observed in high schools. These can be considered as SEE elements, and in particular they can be described as the aspects of education which provide students with the awareness and motivation necessary to work towards solutions to global sustainability in terms of energy usage.
Furthermore, Schelly et al. (2012) made the point that one factor which can cause people to change their energy usage behavior is a better understanding of the economic impact their habits create, as well as the harmful environmental impact of their energy usage. It is noted that energy conservation measures can readily be employed in public schools, which would be able to alter their behavior to cut energy consumption by up to 30% through implementing various operational changes. The results of the study of Schelly et al. (2012) suggest that if schools provide educational activities which encourage students to examine their own energy usage more closely, the result is that these young learners may become role models in their communities. It was also observed that the schools and the administrators of learning institutions also became more environmentally aware and began to take steps to reduce their energy consumption when their students took the lead. These findings are supported by the work of Fujihira and Osuka (2009) who discovered that students who acquire knowledge about their own energy consumption are then in turn more capable of reducing that usage, as well as encouraging their communities to follow. In a similar study by Gottlieb et al. (2012), the students were invited to monitor their own ecological footprints, thereby becoming much more keenly aware of the impact of their energy consumption and the broader context of that consumption outside and beyond the narrow confines of their own communities. The use of methods such as those of Gottlieb et al. (2012) which relied on carbon footprint analysis could be used with SEE in schools to support the knowledge of learners and plan the changes required to achieve sustainability in the schools in the future.

Conclusion
The research that has been presented focuses on the program of instruction or Program Learning based on Skinner's theory learning and Edward L. Thorndike's theory. There are previous research results which have shown that the use of student-centered learning is more effective than normal study. A present, the way energy is managed is very important for every human on earth. Fundamentally, there are two ways to make energy savings: eco-friendly technology and eco-friendly human behavior. These methods can be applied in combination to achieve the best outcomes. Eco-friendly human behavior requires the building of awareness as the first step in modifying people's behavior to conserve energy. This is something which is most effective when the process begins in childhood. This study has therefore discussed the conceptual framework which would be applied in developing awareness to change behavior for sustainable energy consumption in the future.