Learning by Wandering: An Ancient Irish Perspective for a Digital World

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.

The Author: Marie Martin is an education consultant in Northern Ireland, specialising in the use of technology in education. She is also adjunct faculty of Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, and of Carlow University, Pittsburgh, USA. She has a B.A. in Celtic Studies and French, an M.A. in Modern French Studies and an Ed.D. in Instructional Technology. Formerly a teacher and international officer with a local education authority, she helped pioneer the use of videoconferencing to enhance and extend learning in schools and to promote international collaboration in education from primary to tertiary level. She has presented at international conferences on the use of technology in education and is the author of several publications, including Videoconferencing for Schools: Pedagogy and Practice (2008).