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When we hear or read about computers
in our schools, the subject is usually the dearth of them,
the fact that we need more or that children should be exposed
to them at a younger age. The assumption that computers belong
in the classroom is rarely questioned.
But some argue that the new technologies
made available through the computer are being overused and
that the losers are our children.
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"If education is about anything at all, it is about
helping us to meet, understand, embrace and enlarge our
destinies," Talbott
writes. |
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Stephen Talbott, the editor of
a free Internet magazine called NETFUTURE (www.oreilly.com/~stevet/netfuture/)
is one such voice. The topical index on the site lists many
articles on computers and education for those who want to
explore the subject further.
One place where teachers might
be most tempted to use a CD-ROM or video footage is in science
or nature study classes. After all, if you can bring the majesty
of the Sahara desert or the intricacies of an ant's world
into your classroom, why not do it?
SNAKE
IN THE WOODS, SNAKE ON THE SCREEN
In answer to that question, Talbott
quotes a true story written by Barry Angell, the father of
an 11-year-old boy.
"Yesterday my...son and
I were hiking in a remote wood. He was leading. He spotted
a four-foot rattlesnake in the trail about six feet in front
of us. We watched it for quite some time before going around
it.
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is not so much content that stays with us then, it is
experience; it is our inner connection to the matter at
hand |
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"When we were on the way
home, he commented that this was the best day of his life.
He was justifiably proud of the fact that he had been paying
attention and had thus averted an accident and that he had
been able to observe this powerful, beautiful and sinister
snake."
Angell goes on to ask: "I
wonder how many arm-chair nature-watchers have seen these
dangerous snakes on the tube and said, 'This is the best day
of my life.'" He concludes, "Better one rattlesnake
on the trail that a whole menagerie of gorillas, lions and
elephants on the screen."
It is easy to recognize the dramatic
difference for the child between the snake on the trail and
a snake on the screen, Talbott claims in the education journal,
Renewal (3911 Bannister Road, Fair Oaks, California,
95628 U.S.A. or awsna@igc.apc.org).
Talbott argues that this difference has profound implications
for education.
THE
REAL THING
If Angell's son had encountered
the snake on a CD-ROM, "He would not be at risk of spraining
a toe against the exposed roots in the trail. He would not
find the tree trunks rough and creviced, but rather smooth
as glass. The musty smell of moss and pregnant decay would
not greet him. That fullness of being...would not be there
for the little boy. The slithery snake consciousness that
looked out through those baleful, unblinking eyes on the trail
do not look out through the illuminated pixels on this screen,"
Talbott writes.
On the trail, Talbott maintains,
the boy met a part of his personal destiny -- a destiny that
might have turned out differently had he not been as sharp
in his observations. "If education is about anything
at all, it is about helping us to meet, understand, embrace
and enlarge our destinies," Talbott writes.
And for this, children also need
living, breathing teachers. The father's feelings during the
experience -- of wonder, curiosity and a respect for the snake's
beauty and power -- helped shape the boy's experience. "The
boy learned about the snake by seeing his image, not upon
a screen, but as reflected in the response of a living teacher,"
Talbott writes.
To further back up his stand,
Talbott cites research about the backgrounds of people who
choose careers that show concern for the natural world, such
as ecologists, naturalists and environmentalists. Two of the
most important influences on these people were an exposure
to wild places as children and the availability of adult mentors.
(For a review of the literature see Louise Chawla, "Significant
Life Experiences Revisited: A Review of Research on Sources
on Environmental Sensitivity" forthcoming in Journal
of Environmental Education.) The findings, Talbott writes,
"raise serious questions about today's powerful drive
toward technology-mediated education."
What do you remember from all
your years at school? Chances are that what's stuck with you
is a book read to you chapter by chapter by your sixth grade
teacher, or being turned on to literature in junior high by
a teacher who acted out the part of Grendel, or beginning
to re-evaluate your faith in your government because you were
inspired by a 10th grade civics teacher who taught you the
value of asking critical questions.
It is not so much content that
stays with us then, it is experience; it is our inner connection
to the matter at hand. And this experience needs to be direct,
not mediated by technology. This connection can be facilitated
by a caring adult -- but not by a machine.
© Ruth Mason, 2000 |
