As I read Walczak’s (2002) article on Adventure Learning what resonated most were the images of the young girl learning through her exploratory experiences. Being a person who learns best through physical engagement much of my schooling is a blur of regurgitated material, praise, and good grades.
Fast forward to a recent trip I took to San Antonio where I seized the opportunity to visit the Caves of Sonora, rated as one of the top ten most beautiful caves in the United States by the Adventure Travel and Outdoor Recreation Group (GORP).
For me the experiences described in Walczak’s article on Adventure Learning and going spelunking, bore a striking similarity. Certainly, the difference of one being situated in a futuristic setting and the other in terrain that has been in existence for millions of years makes no difference because the parallels between the two are compelling. A few of them, as I see it, are as follows;
Education should be a full contact sport. Learners should participate in meaningful experiences which engage all of the senses. The cavers of yesteryear tacitly knew that the only way they could really understand the cave system was to get in the cave. They put themselves underground, immersed themselves in the environment, looked, listened, and learned. Cavers know caves from their experiences not from what they have read. In the future, learning may have to be a throw back to the wisdom unearthed by cavers which is, the best way to learn is to get down and dirty with your topic.
Reference:
Walczak, D. (2002). Encompassing education, pp. 60-64, In Department of Commerce. (2003). Visions 2020: Transforming education and training through advanced technologies. Government Report. Retrieved September 1, 2008 from, http://www.technology.gov/reports/TechPolicy/2020Visions.pdf
6 comments:
Physical interactions
The only physical thing in Walczak's article was when Iona stepped into the pod. I have to wonder, even if all of the sensory data is telling you that you are smelling this and doing that, you may even feel tired after exiting the pod... but is there something in your mind that says, this isn't real...
If Iona was holding a book, she could feel it in her hand, then the power surges and it disappears for a moment as she is stranded in the pod, only a brief moment, but her mind knows that it wasn't there and then it reappeared... would she ever feel the same confidence about the virtual world and environment that she is in? Once your brain realizes that it is being tricked, will the virtual experiences continue to fool you?
It sort of reminds me of the Matrix.
Great point, although, every time we read a piece of well-written literature aren’t we receiving a multi-sensory experience? We are physically on the edge of our seat at the description of the messy, intertwined relationships of the characters. We can envision the craftily described story setting almost hearing the sounds of the chirping birds in the background. We gasp at the implausible climax of the storyline as our jaws drop. Strong sensory stimulation can augment the memory of an experience. Yet, we are open to continually being fooled by good books! :)
I love how you related these metaphors to the "Matrix" movie. It opened up a whole new vision as I re-read the article on "Adventure Learning." It is interesting to think about what happens when the mind is presented with the virtual world and then immediately taken back into the real one. What kind of adjustments does it have to make to adapt to the new surroundings and take in what is real and not real. It would be especially pertinent in children whose imagination can sometimes take over what is really in front of them:)
Great Post!
Heather Abbott
When I was a HS Calculus teacher I told my students about my exploration of the lava tubes outside Bend, Oregon and at the base of Mt. St. Helens. They were excited enough that we gathered one Saturday and went together to explore the Ape Cave (http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/ApeCave/description_ape_cave.html) of Mt St. Helens. We had a great outing. It was the students that asked whether our trip was related to calculus in any way and it was the students that came up with their own answer.
The use of virtual reality is in its infancy and its details mostly unknown to most of us. Since the Walczak article is so futuristic it seems that the point is that interaction doing real-world tasks to solve real world problems is what is important. We will use whatever technology is available when the time comes. It will be natural to us just like flying in an airplane is now. Think of being in the 1500's and what you would think about flying in an SST.
I remember how psyched you were after your caving trip and the exhiliration in your voice when you told me about the experience. I question whether Adventure Learning can replicate the same internal intensity that you felt.
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