How should place (ecology, environment, remoteness, climate change, etc.) shape education?

In addition to this ETEC course, I am also taking ETEC533 (STEM). This weeks
discussions were based on embodied learning and the readings from this week and last
share a lot of ties with this learning theory. Embodiment is essentially examining the
interactions between the learning that occurs and its relativity to the learning
environment, via ones external body (Winn, 2003). Embodied learning has proven to be
a valuable experience in the classroom and allows students to engage with the material
more closely. This learning theory clearly links to the idea of place based education and
indigenous perspectives.

The Kawagley & Barnhardt (1998) article discusses the fact that both Native and non-
native people were beginning to recognize the limitations of western education.
Kawagley & Barnhardt (1998) mention the differences between competencies between
the two cultures when they state, In western terms, competency is based on
predetermined ideas of what a person should know, which is then measured indirectly
through various forms of "objective" tests. Such an approach does not address whether
that person is really capable of putting the knowledge into practice. In the traditional
Native sense, competency has an unequivocal relationship to survival or extinction.

They continue to discuss the fact that students learn more when the learning is
meaningful and reflects what they know in their community. The fishing example is a
great way to demonstrate the importance of including indigenous perspectives.
Discussing the river, the currents, the path of fish, etc. helps students connect to their
surroundings rather than jumping right in to teaching about velocity.

Place based learning is such a fantastic way to get students to engage in what they are
learning. In Western based education, and from my own experiences, sometimes being
able to connect to our surroundings (i.e. go to visit the local forest) is not permitted or
even at times not feasible (hiring of more supervisors, transportation, etc.). This left me
wondering about virtual reality and how/if this could help connect to indigenous
perspectives of place based education? Does this technology interfere with these
perspectives or can it help create these invaluable experiences for when visit are not
permitted?

After reading the Doering & Henrickson (2014) article about adventure learning (AL)
and bringing outside learning in, I realized that technology is considered, in the respect,
to be invaluable to remote indigenous communities. Technology has changed the way
students in remote communities learn. No longer do they have extensive limitations on
their learning but can be apart of many different experiences without ever having to leave
the classroom.

References
Doering, A. & Henrickson, J. (2014). Designing for learning engagement in remote
communities: Narratives from North of Sixty.Canadian Journal of Learning and
Technology, 40(3), 1-26.

Kawagley, A. O., & Barnhardt, R. (1998). Education indigenous to place: Western

science meets native reality. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Knowledge Network.

Winn, W. (2003). Learning in artificial environments: Embodiment, embeddedness, and

dynamic adaptation. Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning, 1(1), 87-114