Learning by Wandering

This book uncovers an ancient Irish perspective of learning and reconfigures it to offer a vitality-restoring vision for education in our digital age. Its aim is to help re-engage learners of the Net generation meaningfully and with enjoyment in the learning process. The proliferation of new technologies in the classroom has generally not been accompanied by new pedagogical thinking and the discourse is still framed almost exclusively in terms of the utilitarian mindset of the Western world. Consequently, education is too often delivered within a context that is unfit for purpose. The author argues that we need to bring the wisdom of different cultural perspectives to bear on our understanding of the nature and purpose of learning, and on the role of technology in the learning process. She shares an energising vision of education based on the ancient Irish understanding of learning as nourishment for the human spirit, expressed as learning by wandering. Illustrating the universal and timeless relevance of this understanding, she demonstrates from personal experience how a synthesis of ancient wisdom and new technologies can transform the learning process. This book offers a new dimension to the ongoing debate on the future of education in the Western world.