Comments on: Authentic learning without technology? No way! http://sustainablydigital.edublogs.org/2008/02/03/a-non-technological-non-schooly-school/ Thoughts on teaching, technology, and maintaining sanity Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:49:34 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Ben Wildeboer http://sustainablydigital.edublogs.org/2008/02/03/a-non-technological-non-schooly-school/comment-page-1/#comment-19 Ben Wildeboer Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:59:31 +0000 http://sustainablydigital.edublogs.org/2008/02/03/a-non-technological-non-schooly-school/#comment-19 @kolson As an Earth & environmental science teacher I would definitely take teaching every class outside over technology. Why sit and look at a screen to help learn about ecosystems & nutrient cycles when you can look around and actually see it happening? As a teacher, I strive to help students become independent learners & thinkers. My decision to focus on technology as the tool to get them there may simply be an effect of not having the same resources the Walden Project has. I thought the story was a good reality check: technology is a tool to achieve a greater end; technology is not an end in itself. @kolson As an Earth & environmental science teacher I would definitely take teaching every class outside over technology. Why sit and look at a screen to help learn about ecosystems & nutrient cycles when you can look around and actually see it happening?

As a teacher, I strive to help students become independent learners & thinkers. My decision to focus on technology as the tool to get them there may simply be an effect of not having the same resources the Walden Project has. I thought the story was a good reality check: technology is a tool to achieve a greater end; technology is not an end in itself.

]]> By: Kate Olson http://sustainablydigital.edublogs.org/2008/02/03/a-non-technological-non-schooly-school/comment-page-1/#comment-18 Kate Olson Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:20:48 +0000 http://sustainablydigital.edublogs.org/2008/02/03/a-non-technological-non-schooly-school/#comment-18 Great post! Although your last statement may not have been intended as completely serious, I actually agree with it. Many (most) schools in the US don't have access to land like that and for students to be able to see life beyond the city borders, technology is required. I live at the end of a dead end road surrounded by hundreds of unoccupied acres and if I had to choose either or, I'd rather have my children learning there than at a computer. However, I have the wonderful privilege of having the best of both worlds - wireless internet and multiple computers in a house on lots of land :-) You might be interested in this book that I'm reading "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" by Richard Louv. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time exploring online learning and networking, but time spent outside is priceless. Great post! Although your last statement may not have been intended as completely serious, I actually agree with it. Many (most) schools in the US don’t have access to land like that and for students to be able to see life beyond the city borders, technology is required. I live at the end of a dead end road surrounded by hundreds of unoccupied acres and if I had to choose either or, I’d rather have my children learning there than at a computer. However, I have the wonderful privilege of having the best of both worlds – wireless internet and multiple computers in a house on lots of land :-) You might be interested in this book that I’m reading “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” by Richard Louv. I’m thoroughly enjoying my time exploring online learning and networking, but time spent outside is priceless.

]]>