Technology Initiatives - Faculty Focus
Experiential Learning and Podcasting
On July 8-13, EIS 679S: Experiential Education: Theory and Practice a three (3) credit graduate course was offered at the Grand Canyon via the support of WIU's Short-term Study Abroad office. This course introduced and immersed current and aspiring educators in the philosophies of experiential education through the study of its theories and praxis of expeditionary and experiential teaching and learning. The Grand Canyon of Arizona is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring natural wonders in the world and it offered a differential experience for students to process its unique value as a historical/scientific/social context with the Native American culture. Participants were not only able explore the Canyon’s rim and take in many of its breathtaking vistas, they were able to gain different perspectives by hiking below its rim and rafting on the Colorado River. Participants were also surprisingly rewarded with cross-cultural experiences with the Navajo Nation.
A number of the class’s participants found the exploration of a slot canyon near Page, Arizona highly rewarding. It has been said that to understand the merging of the spiritual aspects of culture and Mother Nature in relationship to Grand Canyon a person should experience the Antelope Canyon as “one of the most breathtaking and tranquil places on earth.” Facilitated by an incredible Navajo guide, Dalvin Etsitty, participants were able to reflect, process, and synthesize this “tranquility of place” that is so sacred to the Navajo as they gained understanding of the principles and processes of experiential education through this cross-cultural experience.
Since community service learning is an important branch of experiential education, the class’s participants not only had the opportunity to take part in a service project with a school on the edge of the Navajo Reservation, but they were also able to share lunch and conversation with the school’s director, Dr. Mark Sorensen, and his faculty and staff. Many of our students remarked that their STAR school’s service opportunity was serendipitously rewarding with its contextual connections to Northern Arizona, Navajo Nation, and the fact that this school is located on a reclaimed junkyard. One particular student remarked, “The STAR School experience was probably the most incredible aspect of the course . . . .” The school’s name has two messages it self. It’s the first school completely powered by solar energy in Arizona and STAR is an acronym for Service To All Relations. Not only did our students have the opportunity to experience service learning first hand they had the opportunity to serve with a school were service learning is one of its main components.
As personal reflection is an integral pedagogical component within the theory and practice of experiential education, many technological tools were utilized on this learning expedition. Digital cameras both still and video as well as Dell PDA – Handhelds (for audio recordings) were handy as over 500 digital images and over three hours of video were made available to students following the expedition to use as supporting artifacts as they completed the culminating research plan regarding the meaning and practice of experiential teaching and learning.
The concept or idea of bringing a class to Grand Canyon in the first place was to provide students with a differential experience (or an initiative) to better understand the theory and praxis of experiential and expeditionary learning. Especially with this type of course, there is hope that these experiences might never be forgotten, “plant the seeds” for change, and be transformative for participants. The ability to podcast the captured and documented course experiences will undoubtedly assist in ensuring that these experiences will continue to “echo” for our students and intrigue future students. The podcast artifacts in many ways allow the “content” of our course to remain unfinished. Course participants will have a unique opportunity to “relive” the course, emotionally reconnecting to the classroom’s community, rich content, and learning with each viewing. These podcasts, while becoming their own experiential experience, philosophically create continued learning opportunities that are not commonly found in traditional coursework.
To view pictures, video, and listen to audio files of the experience, visit the media archive page at http://www.wiu.edu/users/jgl101/mediaarchive.htm.
*Taken from the September 2006 issue of Techenews