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Technology laden campus
Last night was the final meeting of my night class. With all eight of us in attendance, and our teacher, we came up with a list of "red flags for fads" in education to round out our teaching and learning in science course. It was quite interesting for me, not being part of the education world that they are from, to see these programs and tools that people develop to make a profit off of and market as educational. Somehow we managed to get off topic (shocking, right?!) and we started talking about the use of technology in the classroom. I think the consensus was that children should be getting experiences, not relying on technology to shape their world. Incorporating cell phones, computers, iPods, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera in lessons distracts from what they really should be learning and although sometimes there can be what looks like increased learning, it is more of a wow factor from using new 'things' in the classroom.
My teacher also mentioned that college students walk around campus oblivious to the changes taking place. I would agree with this. When I am on campus I watch the people watching nature. Or the lack of people watching nature, rather. The majority of college students walking around campus so focused on talking, texting, and listening to music that they often don't watch what they're walking by, or where they're walking for that matter.
A few weeks ago, as the magnolias were in full bloom, I was walking by the most beautiful magnolia on campus and I heard one girl say to the other "Wow! That's amazing; I have never noticed that tree before, I wonder when it started flowering?" I smiled to myself. And then I realized the magnolias had been blooming for a couple weeks by then. I'll cut her a little slack. If she is only on campus one day a week like me it is easy to miss. For the rest of the students who are on campus day in and day out wake up and smell the flowers, literally.
There is so much going on in our natural world not just because it is spring but because it is life that you can't afford to miss out on a day, a month, a year of observing the changes taking place. This is our planet and we don't have to travel the world to find diversity, wildlife, or wonder- it's all in our own backyard... campus. So take one beautiful afternoon a week if you have to and turn off your mp3 players, save texting for class (just kidding!), and look at what's going on around you as you walk to class, to work, to wherever it may be to appreciate the changes going on right in front of you!