Something as simple as using a map is a lost
art. Some people talk in directions (I find that’s men usually… “on the
east side of the road”, etc). My dad did it all his life because it
related to his job. But reading a map is
a lost art. Is it even a skill taught in
schools? I know I had those little 5 question quizzes that tested my map
reading skills in 3rd grade. I, however,
never had to REALLY use a map...that was until I started driving with my mom to
summer camp in 1994 as a rising senior in high school. Camp was located
in Crossville, TN and my mom and I drove there from Louisiana for the first
time to be counselors together. We
embarked for what can be a one day trip and I remember wanting to know where I
was at all times to “mark off” the distance and time that had passed. It
was then, aa a soon-to-be-senior in high school, that I learned to really read
a map. Folding a map is one skill (and
let’s admit, a hard one to do in a car properly), interpreting a map is a whole
new ball game. Where was the next rest stop?
What exit could you get off, but not back on? What roads were 2 or
4 lane highways, and thus how busy were they?
I came to be good at it and like it.
When I moved to Northern, VA to live near my
then boyfriend, I asked for the old type of bound city and local maps to help
me get around. That thing lived in the front seat of my car with popular
destinations marked off for me. Oh, did
I mention I avoided (and still avoid) major interstates like 395 and 495.
Local routes for me still to this day even if that means more time!
That bound book USED to be sold at Sam’s Club
and Costco in annual installments with updates. Not anymore! That bound book USED to ride shotgun with
me. Not anymore! Why?
Because now, I’m app-dependent as is probably MOST of the traveling
world. Ideally, we’ll never be lost again! But why is this so scary?
Why is being lost so scary? Why is not
figuring you way back to you route not seen as an adventure and pertinent
problem-solving practice? Why isn’t practicing using your information
around you to find your way applauded?
Why aren’t reading signs and using trial and error seen as building a
literacy worth building? If you haven’t noticed, I just highlighted 3
parts of the PICKLE that could be practiced if all of our map apps were
disabled. Oh and lo and behold, heaven
forbid we call someone and TALK to them if we were lost! Actual connection
with a human being! I know, I sound
really cynical and like I’m writing this at midnight, which I am!
But this got me thinking about the dependence we
have on the apps/digital world and how The App Generation talked about
embracing, or at least understanding the concept of the app/digital world for
identity, intimacy, and imagination is really necessary in comprehending the
youth we are teaching or are bound to eventually teach. As I look back on
my notes, what truly stands out is the concept of fear.
Fear of ones’ perception
by others online
Fear of who you are not
being enough or okay
Fear of being autonomous
Fear of being wrong and
thus needing approval or reassurance from others
Fear that causes anxiety
Fear of confrontation
with others
Fear of getting too
attached
Now, yes, I know that there were many positives
that showed up in our “app people” we created. But when I looked at the
negatives (represented as fears above) it makes me worried for our youth.
It seems that trying to avoid scary situations is just making things
scarier...or at least more fearful? But is this because students don’t
have resiliency anymore that would come with being lost once or twice in their
life? In college once I took a trip with some friends to a different camp
in Alabama at spring break. We crossed a
river and the girls got separated from the boys. I was lost. But I kept my wits about me. I started making paths in the leaves to know
which way I had gone. And then I
listened. I could hear the river flowing
and remembered that it needed to be on my right to find the path.
Problem-solving! Resiliency!
To me it’s a little which came first, the
chicken or the egg. Do students develop problem solving skills and then
figure out how to use them in varied situations like online when they need
them, or do they have to be using them in a situation (online) the whole time
to be able to access their solving abilities? Isn’t this called
transference or something like that? I
want to believe that if developed, students could problem solve their way out
of anything. Why then do these apps need
to exist to solve problems for us? Are
we really just using them to get something done faster so we have time to do
yet one more thing on our plate?
This is obviously a bigger issue than this blog
will and can cover. I know the digital world is here to stay and I have
to roll with the punches. It just seems unfortunate that students have to
roll with those punches and the negativity that may come with them too.
I like how the book made us aware of the effects
of an online presence on today’s youth. I think it made us very aware of
the tremendous anxiety that comes with the youth of today and the implications
for our classroom. It did also make us aware of the potential that is out
there for positive identity building, intimacy creating, and imagination
developing. It did not truly suggest great ways to do this (thought it
didn’t claim to do so in the first place.
That is all. I have spoken (Star Wars
reference here.) End of rant. End
of blog.
I am probably even older than you and also used maps and the big book of maps while driving. My husband still likes to use a map and collected them on our trip to Arizona last summer. We have driven out there two times and both times I used the map app in my car and he tried to use a map, my map app won each time. It was quicker and easier to use the app. We don't teach mapping skills or even the 50 states that I memorized in school. I guess this is because we have so many apps that do the job for us. Which is better? Isn't reading a map good problem solving and thinking!
ReplyDeleteI will continue to use some of my old school ways until I retire in three years! I will also use some of the new digital ways of thinking. Sometimes students just need a piece of paper, a pencil and markers and they are very content.
I love your map reading example, Brandi. I, too, kept that book in my front seat when I first moved to Virginia. I probably still have a copy somewhere. In my house, I have the honor of being known as the "Dad's On-Star" representative. I get calls from my sons and occasionally my wife when they are lost and the phones don't seem to be making it any better. I hop on the computer and Google Maps (I prefer the satellite view) and help them figure out where they need to go by reading the map. I literally follow along like an eye in the sky until they are back on track.
ReplyDeleteThat "eye in the sky" is what we need to be for our App Happy students, helping them navigate the ease and complication technology brings to bear against them. Where do you want to go today?