Beware though, what I mean by interpersonal connection goes beyond “hangin’ out” with others. The personal connection of which I speak is the meaningful connection created when I worked with others purposefully. My father’s classroom (a classroom I secretly wished I could attend more than on the odd occasions I did as a guest) was an excellent example of this purposefulness in action. He always had hands-on, project-based learning going on, integrated across curricular areas before “integration” was even a thing! More than a few times, he was known to take 28 grade 4 students, with a couple of parents, on 3 day camping trips where he would have his students rotate through outdoor ed skill development sessions, math and science problem solving centres, orienteering courses and writing stations. Learning in-context, in real-world scenarios with the latitude to think instead of simply mimic, to be given the freedom to explore yet, to do so within the security of companionship; that is was what got me going.
I may imaginably only be remembering the highlights of my public school experiences as I become further removed from them, but that in itself, impresses the poignancy, for it was not only when I was with my father that I experienced engaging activities for students. I had many teachers whose main priority seemed to be to have their students involved with each other - collaborating, inventing, creating and perhaps most importantly, inquiring. Whether it was designing a haunted house for the younger students, tracking the growth stages of fertilized chicken eggs, sewing pyjamas, researching ancient civilizations or discussing the relevance of Shakespeare in the “modern world of the 1970’s,” I think the fondness of memory exists within the deep connection I felt for the people I was learning “purposefully” alongside, and the teachers who designed activities with student engagement in mind.
My history perhaps, explains why I can use one word for what I want for me (and my students) - OUT. Out of the cage that is the classroom. Out in the world to find the usefulness and relevance of what I’m learning. Out from the restrictions explicit in the use of recommended text books that match prescribed curricula. Out of the gridlock that is a learning schedule. Give me time to digest, and understand and synthesize so that I can be competent in my skill acquisition, and can choose mastery, if I’m so inclined. Out, but not “out all alone".
Which brings me to examine more closely, the use of technology in the pursuit of my educational re-mix. How does one utilize the great gift of technology, that we all hold so dear, without being “alone together” as Sherry Turkle’s book with the same title, explains. Turkle (2012) is adamant that we can easily end up hiding from each other, even as we're all constantly connected to each other.
Solitude is where you find yourself so that you can reach out to other people and form real attachments. When we don't have the capacity for solitude, we turn to other people in order to feel less anxious or in order to feel alive. When this happens, we're not able to appreciate who they are. It's as though we're using them as spare parts to support our fragile sense of self. We slip into thinking that always being connected is going to make us feel less alone. But we're at risk, because actually it's the opposite that's true. If we're not able to be alone, we're going to be more lonely. And if we don't teach our children to be alone, they're only going to know how to be lonely. |
So herein lies my challenge… going back to get all that is known to be good for learners and applying it to a largely unknown future, but a future that is for sure infused with technology... Looks like “Blended” it is!
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York City, NY. Basic Books.
Turkle, S. (2012 February). Connected, but alone? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together/transcript?language=en