By Sam Anderson
Since I have started my career I have herd nothing but jokes from other peers, about my profession. They don’t understand how beneficial the backcountry can be as a classroom. Most average people have not experienced the teachable moments we have. Being in such an independent field as adventure education you will constantly here people poking fun at you. I am also a strong believer that nature has an extreme effect on the learning process.
When we do our teaching as backcountry teachers we make our lessons appealing to people. They get most of the human senses going such as hearing, seeing, touching etc. With some lesson little kids explode with joy when they get to run around, rather then just sitting in a chair. You learn by doing activities hands on with others or just by yourself. Everyone works as a team and help each other out with different chores. It also helps in the fact you can do practice your skills when you physically do it 50 times. It has a way of sticking in your brain to know that people will help you when ever you need it. There is no lack of teacher interactions with their students. I like the physical pressure it demands from you with certain activities. Your life depends on how much you learn, if you a careless and didn’t pay attention you could miss out on lifesaving information. It puts more pressure on the student when there is a risk of injury to learn the information. There are good presentations even in the woods; teachers improvise with props, and various poster boards. Kids are excited to learn, they learn by doing, and interacting with their learning environment. The backcountry classroom pushes its teachers to the next level; it expects you to rise to the challenge of getting your group through dangerous situations. I feel that nature is there to test out the strongest from the weakest people. It’s like the old saying “only the strong survive”, nature demands perfection from its followers. The others that aren’t pushing there skills constantly are not capable of being in the backcountry classroom. I think I have a different perspective on how I judge people character now. Nature has a way of bringing out the flaws in people, you can tell a strong person from a weak one. You also grow to respect those people that are up to your judgments. People that are accomplished successfully in dangerous fields I have more respect for then most.
After being out for the last two weeks I will definitely admit that any time spent in the woods will force you to look at the real world differently. It puts a new perspective on things in your every day life when you get home. You will appreciate normal luxuries that you would not consider while being in the woods. Small things like having a shower, a stove, and especially using a toilet, are something I’m grateful for. I like the fact that those little things will choose you to appreciate life more. Weather factors change the way you can perform tasks, a day of canoeing in the rain is harder then doing it on a sunny day. You need to know your stuff; nature demands your perfection as a leader. The risk that we encounter on a daily basis is something that no class room can prepare you for.
The backcountry classroom should be the only classroom. It applies to all the ways in which people learn information. Nature is the perfect tool to have your students use while learning about their environment. I am excited to get to use my skills these coming seasons, I want to use the power of the backcountry classroom with my students. I want people to experience the benefits I have been able to learn.
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Why use the backcountry as a classroom? What effect does nature have on the learning process and on the participants?
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008Why use the backcountry as a classroom? What effect does nature have on the learning process and on the participants?
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008By Lindsay Hill
The Backcountry Classroom
The society we live in today has pushed us to believe that intellect is measured strictly by numbers and test results. Experiential education is the step in a new direction, and can be extremely effective if presented in an appropriate manner. Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University, once said “Intelligence is the capacity to do something useful in the society in which we live. Intelligence is the ability to respond successfully to new situations and the capacity to learn from one’s past experiences.”
I knew that I would come away from the Immersion Semester with new thoughts and ideas about living in an outdoor environment as well as great tips and practical experience leading others to do the same in a backcountry setting. What I didn’t completely understand was that I would come away with a deeper passion to use the outdoors as a semi formal classroom. Over the past weeks, we all have learned a lot about structured teaching in a backcountry setting. When using the backcountry as a classroom, students are able to “learn by doing” as they participate, make choices and accept responsibility for their role in the learning process. (The Backcountry Classroom: 2nd Addition)
Students are often forced to sit in a classroom and stare at a white board while a teacher goes on for hours on end about his or her experiences and how they may have learned from them. They are expected to learn from lectures and retain information that does not apply to their lives in any way. Grades are always an incentive to try to learn the material, but are they learning it for themselves or someone else? Experiential learning allows students to see education in a unique manner that in a lot of cases can bring out a different outlook on learning and allow them to see how and why the presented material is beneficial and helpful for them to know.
As I sat semi sheltered from the wind on White Island during our solos, I was very inspired by the words of Richard Louv in his book, Last Child in the Woods. One way or another, I was constantly comparing his words to the path that I have chosen, and with each page turned, I found myself even more thankful that I have chosen Adventure Education as a career path for myself. On page 97 he wrote, “Immersion in the natural environment cuts to the chase, exposes one directly and immediately to the very elements from which humans evolved: earth, water, air, and other living kin, large and small.” I read that and immediately dug through my dry bag to pull out a pencil to underline it. He had essentially just described the value of Adventure Education without even being aware it. It’s true, being immersed in the wilderness teaches self reliance, confidence and determination, which are three crucial characteristics in having a successful and enjoyable lifestyle.
So as is expressed in The Backcountry Classroom, wilderness travel is rich in opportunities for personal growth. When students are faced with the harsh realities of backcountry living, they must engage in the struggle to meet the real challenges that confront them. With this development, they gain the knowledge and skills necessary to solve problems independently and as a team. When these experiences are debriefed and processed properly, they often encourage leaps of individual insight and growth. I believe Experiential/Adventure based education in an outdoor setting is extremely useful to people and students of all ages. It offers a promising alternative to learning with different methods and I feel that as more studies and research is done, we will soon be seeing nature being used more and more as a place of education rather than just recreational enjoyment.
“A well-rounded education would mean learning the basics to become part of a society that cherished nature while at the same time contributing to the well-being of mankind.” (Louv, Last Child in the Woods; pg 135)
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Why use the backcountry as a classroom? What effect does nature have on the learning process and on the participants?
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008By Chris Grosjean
Over the last few months we have gone on trips and experienced using the backcountry as our classroom. Over all of the trips I came to a realization. I found that in the backcountry I am way more attentive in the classes. I also found that the information that I did learn about plants and animals was retained in my brain solidly without me even trying. How did this happen?
I do not care who you are, when people are in the backcountry they grow in many ways that cannot be accomplished in any other setting. In a normal class room setting we have grown to have certain habits about how we learn in the class room. The sole reason we do this is because we have been in classrooms for the better part of our lives. What this leads to is when we go into the backcountry to learn anything, we have learning habits are different and that have not been poisoned by bad habits. Also when you are in the woods I found that it is much easier to be “here and now”. I think the reason is – this classroom is a break for most of the group to just sit and listen. We always spend the rest of our day moving, packing, cooking, etc. But when we get class, we get the chance to just chill and relax. It is this ease that we feel in the class room that I think powers the good retention of all the information we learn.
When you look at the factor of nature alone when added into the learning process. I greater sense of realism is conveyed in whatever you are teaching about. When you sit in a classroom and someone tells you something is real, it can be really easy to brush that information off as not being really. But, if someone takes you somewhere and shows you and you make a self discovery of the idea, then you know it’s real! This process makes remembering the information or idea easier and with a greater understanding. The factor of nature really allows students to go through this process, by themselves at most points. No matter what the subject is that you are teaching nature give people a feeling of self discovery. The feeling of when you have discovered something for your self is a powerful emotion. I believe no matter who you are if you have gone through a self discovery, you become more motivated about learning. Now, I am not saying someone will all of a sudden become really motivated in school work. No, what I am saying that that you will be motivated about learning, it can being anything from, learning about different types of art or a musical instrument, or learning about how do to a specific skill. I have witnessed this with everyone that I have seen take part in an awakening or sorts, all powered but the factor of nature. And this power of nature comes from fact that we are using nature as a classroom. So, you take students into the woods, kick start them in the cycle of self discovery and you will better them for the rest of their lives.
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Why us the Backcountry as a Classroom? What Effect does Nature have on the Learning Process and on the Participants?
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008By Adam Bofinger
For years now schools, business, and specialized outdoor programs have been using our backcountry settings and the natural world as a tool for learning. Many find the idea of using the backcountry as a classroom a puzzling idea. As this idea of “Natures Classroom” becomes more popular and familiar amongst today’s society it will truly be able to be deemed a legitimate way of both teaching and learning. Hopefully as the idea grows and more popularized, people will accurately understand the value it holds.
So why use the backcountry as a classroom and what effect does nature really has on the learning process? Using a backcountry setting for desired learning outcomes can be effective in many ways. First let’s explore what the natural world has to offer. As many of us know nature can be both beautiful and unpredictable. For example, during our 14 day canoe expedition in Maine we experienced a variety of adverse weather conditions. One particular day we encountered some dangerous winds on a large lake crossing which resulted in rough waters and unnecessary risk. This caused us to take shelter and wait out the winds before making the crossing to camp. As a group we learned many valuable lessons that day due to the setting we were in and the real life scenarios nature set forth. Settings like these are what teach us to think quickly and react in a fast, safe, and efficient manner.
More evidence of the positive effects nature has the learning process can be discovered by exploring the serenity and beauty the natural world presents to us. Using the natural world is a great way to slow down ones thought process and create a clearer more concise train of thought. Being in the back country allows us to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of today’s ever so chaotic society and think in an almost meditative state. I think this way of manipulating ones thoughts can really enhance the way of looking at everyday life and even more specific problems or situations that may result. Nature allows us to think and think differently, which to me is a very important quality when time for learning.
The backcountry as a classroom can also be extremely beneficial due to the wide array of settings it has to offer. Venturing into the woods is a great way to learn because most wilderness experiences are truly unforgettable. I feel that if one is continually immersed into unfamiliar and fresh surroundings it will make retaining information easier and more pleasurable. The backcountry is very versatile. If used correctly, many different experiences and learning outcomes can be derived from teaching in nature. I feel that one of the most important aspects about using nature’s backcountry as a classroom is the way it immerses us to our prehistoric roots. It allows us to live like we used to learn from our surroundings, and learn by doing.
Nature has many effects on the learning process. By becoming immersed in wilderness and physically placing ourselves in the surroundings we seek to learn about is one of the most crucial steps of the learning process. The reason this semester has allowed not only me but my peers as well to obtain so much new knowledge is by flooding ourselves with everything nature has to offer, challenge, adversity, peace, happiness, and even misunderstanding. Everything the backcountry throws at us can be processed and manipulated into thousands of different learning outcomes. The learning is endless.
To conclude, using the backcountry as a classroom can indeed be extremely beneficial. I have learned from first hand experiences just how beneficial it justly is. Ending our three expeditions has given me the enlightenment and understanding of just how effective and powerful being immersed in a wilderness setting can be on ones learning. Immersion in the backcountry is truly a beautiful concept.
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Why use the backcountry as a classroom? What effect does nature have on the learning process and on the participants?
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008By Ben Trister
Why Wilderness?
The unique challenges offered by the backcountry classroom can have a profound effect on peoples understanding of themselves and the world around them. The revelations one could make about interacting with leaders and peers, our place in the natural world, relationships with family members, and the list goes on and on. People go into the backcountry with three things; their belongings, each other, and the memories of their past experiences. People are confronted with isolation impossible to reach in the front country; their deepest emotions are revealed to them as they are immersed in a simpler yet profoundly more animalistic state.
Every human of sound mind is an actively learning organism interacting unstoppably with the world around them. Have you ever stopped and thought about just how many thoughts you think in the average day? How many days you’ve been alive and you will see an almost infinitesimal amount of thought history within your own personal universe. Immediately upon entering the challenging state of being on an expedition people are actively engaged with improving their situation whenever a chance arises. If you can teach people something that will immediately make their suffering diminish they will learn it with amazing speed. You will have their devote attention. During our last trip Chris Grosjean volunteered to take over the solo boat for a couple of miles. Before starting he asked me for any tips that would make the job easier. I told him if he aggressively leaned the boat to his onside and held the lean the entire time it would help the bat track that way so he wouldn’t have to emphasize his jay stroke as dramatically, ensuring faster travel. Without hesitation he put the boat on edge and learned by doing, occasionally saying what he was noticing working best to me. He powered through paddling and stayed comfortably with the pod. The advent of new challenges allows people to improvise new solutions to new problems they have never encountered before. During my LOD I was confronted with river navigational problems I have never encountered. I was confronted with the challenge of reading were the river was to shallow to paddle. As a consummate play boater I have never paddled under such low water situations very much on purpose. By being forces into this scenario by the forces of gravity I learned the hard way that if you don’t make the right moves to stay in the main current flow you go SCRAPE and get stuck. After about the second time I got stuck I had already memorized what these features looked like and worked hard to avoid them henceforth so I could maintain my position as lead boat.
The most important piece of equipment you bring with you on any trip is your brain. When in the backcountry people are cut off from the advantages of information technology and are forced to rely on their memories and fact retention capabilities. People’s cogs are always turning as they work to recall information. This attributes to what I think can be called a heightened state of awareness among everyone faced by these challenges. People have no time to let their guards down and their true fears and insecurities are revealed to themselves. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is made apparent in daily life. The challenge of addressing such basic needs of shelter and food, what Thoreau summed up in on word as warmth, takes priority over secondary educational objectives? Under adverse conditions you must prioritize personal survival needs. People revert into instinctive, primal-survival mode to maintain as strong a position as possible. On nice days margins for error are reduced and demanding tasks become impossibly easier with improved psyches group lessons not only become feasible, they are downright engaging and fun to participate in. There is nowhere else to be and nowhere else you’d rather be than learning and having fun with your group. On my solo I found myself reverting into a survival mode I have never seen within myself. Severe consequences for silly mistakes loomed as distinct and unwanted possibilities if I wasn’t totally careful at all times. Spending a long fall night alone and freezing is something I don’t want to deal with. Warmth was my primary motivation for living.
The challenges offered by the wilderness classroom are impossible to replicate in any contrived way. The lessons learned by dealing with real consequences are never forgotten and become like instinct. People will learn how they learn better than they ever have known before. Finally people overcome challenges that they have never before been able to test themselves against. All new knowledge will be invaluable for the rest of their lives.
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Why use the backcountry as a classroom? What effect does nature have on the learning process and on the participants?
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008By David Aguasca
The first reason I can think of to use the backcountry is an evolutionary one. While our brains are extremely adaptable and our neural patterns are capable of configuring themselves in limitless patterns specific to a particular environment, our brains first developed in what is now called a wilderness setting (back then it was just “home”). As early humans, our only options for learning new skills were to see them done by our parents, and then trying them ourselves. Ever since our evolution into Homo sapiens no later than 200,000 years ago we have learned experientially, until the first recorded instances of formal teaching, no earlier than the last 3,000 years.
The backcountry also presents unique situations for teaching. One of the best examples is the “teachable moment”; learning about weather in a fluorescent-lit classroom pales in comparison to learning weather by experiencing the development, occurrence, and retreat of a storm on an accurate time and size scale, with narration and visual aids provided by an instructor. I feel backcountry settings are also particularly effective for teaching and reinforcing group and individual behaviors, because the consequences of group dysfunction can be serious and don’t feel contrived, two things classroom scenarios do less effectively.
The removal of common distractions such as TV, radio, computers, iPods, magazines, and other media creates an environment more conducive to learning. That is not to say that there are no distractions in the backcountry; weather, animal sightings, and hunger can deter learners from paying full attention to the topic at hand. Returning to the point previously made, many of these distractions can make great teachable moments.
When it comes to personal development, the options for the modern human are limited; we are lacking that opportunity which is so readily achieved in the backcountry, the solo. Spending time alone in the wilderness, whether it’s part of a curriculum or simply a backpacking trip on your own, is potent medicine. Removing a person from modern society for even a brief period of time gives them great insight on how their inner workings operate; there is nothing to hide it. This is especially true of challenging situations, which present themselves in the backcountry without any need for planning them.
As you can see, almost every moment in the backcountry allows for learning. If handled properly, this can create a seamless transition from one learning experience to another, a cohesive tapestry of knowledge encompassing every aspect of life in the wilderness.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages to use modern technologies on a wilderness expedition?
Thursday, October 9th, 2008By Ben Trister
Using Technology in the Wilderness
In recent years technology has been taking on a more prominent role in the wilderness industry. The need for better technology has always been demanded by those trying to push limits in wilderness pursuits. When Sir Edmund Hillary summated Everest his team used the best technology available at the time without sparing any expenses. Today, those who continue to push the limits of human endurance will use everything possible to manage the risks of their ventures. The question whether it is justifiable to die in the pursuit of adventure will always loom overhead. There are those who seek purity of style and will seek out the most dangerous ways of taking risks; leaving behind safety equipment to save weight, going solo, using traditional gear: but these attitudes will never be acceptable for commercial or educational enterprises nor should they. The implications would simply be negligent and unlawful.
Technology must be used and taught in adventure education. However the use of technology has both its advantages and drawbacks. Technology cannot be fully relied upon because little electronic gadgets are fragile and can malfunction of their own accord for unexplainable reasons. An expedition without appropriate map and compass skills is vulnerable. GPS’s make navigation both on and off trail downright easy. During our attempt to bushwhack to the base of Carrigan Mountain, both parties followed an almost identical route through a dense forest with thick underbrush and some sinister groves of spruce. The GPS’s along with all the other advanced equipment made many things on our trip a lot easier. But these devices add weight to our packs and limit our ability to rely on ourselves and learn from experience.
Using these technologies becomes an ethical issue in the heart of adventure education. The real point of an adventure is to do something when the outcome is uncertain. With these devices come a large measure of predictability and a powerful illusion of security. The use of technology when educating future adventure educators can stunt the growth of core wilderness skills. It becomes impossible to give your students or clients a full dose of wilderness adventure. It is the programs and the leader’s responsibility to manage all the risks. If you need permission from a doctor to give life saving medicine you better have a satellite phone and a doctor on call. This limits legal liability protecting the program. The leader needs to be able to do whatever it takes to protect their clients.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages to use modern technologies on a wilderness expedition?
Thursday, October 9th, 2008By David Aguasca
Modern technology, whether we realize it or not, plays a large role in wilderness expedition. Advancements in electronics and materials have changed the way humans interact with their environment, and this applies to those who go on expeditions, too. While individually, the current new technologies may seem magical at times, in the scope of technology in the outdoors in the last 100 years, they are not that surprising. After all, the advent of synthetic fabrics and powerful communication technologies has changed the way we live and travel in the backcountry, forever. The only difference is that the rate of improvements may be rising.
New technology is introduced with the intention of making wilderness expeditions more convenient, safer, or more comfortable. Plastics have allowed us to make raingear that is truly waterproof, such as rubber raincoats or urethane-coated rain flies. Small, portable, battery powered radios allow communication across large distances. These are not new technologies in the sense that the SteriPen or GPS are groundbreaking, but at one point there were new. When they are introduced, every technology is subjected to testing and culling process more powerful and elegant than any research and development firm could design; the end user buys it, tries it, and decides whether the technology is worthwhile. If the technology does not work, eventually it will not survive, as no one will purchase it. Absolutely every technology must pass this test in order to continue to be used, regardless of how fancy or amazing the sales claims may be.
As adventure educators, we are viewed and approached as experts on the backcountry life and the methods used to live it; this includes technology. Our gear choices for gear and our opinions will affect many end users, and it’s important to keep this in mind. Every new technology must be approached with a healthy amount of skepticism. Relying solely on a new technology is a terrible idea, until it has proven itself. Once it has, I’d say it’s only a mildly bad idea. The fragility and importance of a technology must be considered in these cases: the SteriPen is a great example. Before it was a proven technology, carrying a back-up water purification method was recommended, especially if you are responsible for a group. Even now, when it’s been proven to actually be even more effective than chemical water purification, it’s not too inconvenient to carry the chemical method too–just in case.
Reliance on these technologies involves a balance of responsibility and skill. GPS technology promises us worry-free navigation; the reality is that when leading a group on an expedition, you must still have your map and compass skills well honed. A satphone can provide communication with the frontcountry in the case of an emergency or change of plans; it does not replace good planning. Many of these technologies seem to alleviate responsibility, or are used to substitute skill. They should in fact be approached as tools, used to enhance the available resources.
The question of legal responsibility complicates things considerably (as the law usually does when introduced to a situation). When someone leading a group relies solely on a technology that subsequently fails (like trusting all your route finding to a GPS), they will be viewed as negligent.
The field of adventure education has been greatly improved by technology, but it must be tested before becoming the industry standard. That is our responsibility as professionals in the field.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages to use modern technologies on a wilderness expedition?
Thursday, October 9th, 2008By Matt Ritter
In a world tending toward convenience, comfort, and consumerism, adventure educators are experiencing a growing pressure from employers, clients, and manufactures to become more technologically advanced. This increasing pressure has resulted in backcountry usage of cell phones satellite phones, GPS, two-way radios, UV purification systems, etc. As the technology market changes, the amount of risk adventure educators are expected to supply their clients also changes. What effects do these changes have on educators and clients? Is our tendency toward technology in the backcountry for the better? In order to answer these questions we must look more closely at the details, at which point, one must decide for themselves.
What are the advantages of technology? What are the advantages to evolution? The answer is comfort. As humans evolve from illiterate game clubbing grunters to aristocratic political tea sippers, our survival becomes more and more assured. Eventually it gets to the point where higher level desires such as comfort and convenience may be pursued. Each species on this planet uses technology in the name of evolution, in the name of survival. My question is, have we gone too far for our own good?
To illustrate this idea, imagine bushwhacking through a thick forest using a GPS unit. It is comparatively easier than using a map and compass for the same route. The advantages are ease and efficiency with which we can now move. GPS units tell you where you are, where to go, and how fast you are getting there. Finding this information using a map, compass, and a watch requires one to have a solid set of specific skills. Like the microwaves in our homes, GPS is quick and easy, but how good is a microwave dinner compared to the real thing? I feel that the disadvantages of GPS outweigh the advantages. I feel that GPS allows us to take the landscape for granted. With map and compass the user is required to read the land around them. Whereas, following digital arrow has us watching a manufactured hunk of plastic. Not only does this remove us even further from the natural world, but what does it show our clients? I feel that being in wilderness settings reunites me with the simple world, where the most important “things” are “eating, sleeping, and pooping.” When life becomes more simplistic, less complicated, and more primitive, it become more adventurous, and for me, infinitely more fulfilling. In our society life is lived in an artificial environment where we bury our noses in glowing digital screens, I feel compelled to leave this in the frontcountry. The most beautiful gift we can give our students is an alternative, an alternative to the busy world of technology, an alternative to a life deprived of nature, an alternative to a life where any comfort is at our fingertips, where all we must do is push a button to make things go our way.
Comfort breeds reliance, addiction, and weakness. As humans, we become weaker with each technological advancement. As we “evolve” machines begin to do our for us and we forget how to live without them. When lighters were invented, we forgot how to use a bow drill. The problem with GPS and lighters is that they are fallible. They require batteries, lighter fluid, satellites, fair weather, warm hands, line of site, no wind. Flint and steel will always make a spark and a compass will always point north. At the very least we should be able to use these more archaic technologies for when the fancy and less reliable stuff doesn’t work.
Adventure education exists to empower its students. What could be more empowering than building basic skills that our ancestors used in order to experience the awe inspiring characteristics of the natural world. To be able to live and be happy in the wilderness without the conveniences of home, that’s power! To face one’s fear, to rise to the challenge, to step out of one’s comfort zone, these are the bumpy and sometimes painful roads to empowerment. The Buddha once said, “Be rafts unto thy selves.” Rely on yourself. For, if we don’t learn how to do things the old fashioned way we won’t know how to do anything when the batteries die.
The questions that arise from this are ethical, legal, and I’d venture to say spiritual inquiries. We must all choose our appropriate level of technology use. But we must also adhere to our employer’s standard operating procedures. It may be legally required for a leader to bring a satellite phone into the backcountry. In which case we have two viable options, bring it or find a new job. Safety is an important issue for adventure educators. Clients demand a certain level of safety which varies based on activity and population. However, the common trend is to make all activities safer. For instance the ability to call a rescue service from the backcountry could easily safe a life. This is a huge advantage to educators and students. In our profession, it is our job to keep clients safe. As the level of accepted risk decreases we as adventure educators must adapt to meet the needs of our increasingly safety oriented industry. This means that with the majority of programs leaders will be expected to carry certain technologies that make backcountry travel safer.
As adventure educators we are expected to provide students with a novel setting. To do this we bring them to the wilderness to challenge them. But shouldn’t the curriculum be novel as well? If the wild becomes an extension of the technological world, it will become less wild, more tame, and less rewarding. A good analogy is mountaineers of the past compared to that of the present. Generally climbers used to be mentally stronger and bolder than they are today. Reinhold Messner believed that the use of bottled oxygen at altitude lowers mountains to a more attainable level. I agree. So what is more important, getting to the top or getting there honestly, “on the mountain’s terms”? our students would benefit from more from succeeding and failing the honest way, the way that requires them to be stronger mentally and physically.
In my personal search for balance of old fashion and new fashion, I must compromise my rather extreme beliefs in order to work in this field. This is fine with me. I have a sound appreciation for the difference between a personal and institutional setting. We must choose what our ethics dictate and choose our population based on these ethics. The more one veers from this idea, the more one will be forced to compromise. The beauty of this industry is the openness that it offers. We all have our favorite populations. The secret to being a good leader is deciding on the teaching style and the level of technology usage that will best serve the interests of the chosen population.
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What are the advantages and disadvantages to use modern technologies on a wilderness expedition?
Thursday, October 9th, 2008By Lindsay Hill
Backcountry Technology: Friend or Foe
It was 6:25am on Sunday morning, the last day of our backcountry expedition. We were surrounded by miles of wet ground as the rain poured down from the grey sky . My peers and I were anxious for breakfast, but to my surprise as I dug through the food bag in search for some grub, I found a bag of soggy Honey Bunches of Oats.
“Adam! Do you see this?! A squirrel got into our food last night!” I told him abruptly showing him the minuscule teeth marks in the side of the bag
“No Lindsay, that can’t be. It must have just gotten caught in the zipper of the black food bag.”
We decided to further investigate the situation and it seemed to be true. We examined the black bag and were not surprised when we found a chew hole in it.
Believe it or not, technology allowed for us to be found in this predicament. Our food was secured in a bear fence that was designed specifically to keep bears out. Any smaller rodents that can fit through the fence got to have a field day with our rations. We were pleased throughout our expedition that we didn’t have to spend precious time searching high and low for that perfect bear hang, however, it’s evident that it as we enjoyed this luxury of technology saving us hard work, the squirrels were equally as appreciative.
Having spent the week being introduced to options and new ways of doing things in the backcountry with technical equipment, I’ve come to the point where I believe that for each new thing that is gained through technology, there is a large component that is lost. Will the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of using the technical devices someday? Perhaps some people will think so, and they will be the people going into the woods carrying only a steri-pen for water purification, while the rest of us bring along the iodine for that “just-in-case” situation. When the pen becomes a nuisance and stops working for one reason or another, they might realize that the battery of their GPS unit became moist in the rain and they don’t understand how to use a good old fashion compass because they have been fully devoted to the satellites in the past. So as I’ve expressed, I feel that certain advances in backcountry equipment can be helpful in some instances, but overall, I feel that being prepared with knowledge and common sense is a must in all situations when entering the wilderness.
Over the past decade, our society has tailored people to feel that they need to have buttons to push or screens to look at. In many cases, children have grown up learning by these new methods and feel more comfortable learning new skills with a device that will do the thinking for them. With that in mind, I feel that the introduction of technology in Adventure Education might put somewhat of a damper on the true meaning of an experience. Sure, these participants may feel better about making a box think for them or sterilizing their water with a UV light, but when it comes down to it, a serious question arises. Will these participants learn the “old fashion” way of surviving in the wilderness if they put all of their attention towards learning how to operate a mechanical device? Perhaps they will, or perhaps not. These luxurious devices can be helpful to have in many cases, but I strongly believe that THEY should be the back up. I feel they should only be used in situations where they are truly found useful by the instructor, not so much the participants.
There are many ethical questions that could arise with the use of technology in backcountry. For example, some people may believe that a bear fence may cause physical and emotional harm to a bear. The action could be considered inhumane when you could simply use some ropes and straightforward ingenuity to create a bear hang. These are the types or issues that Adventure educators will soon be running into as technology continues to inch its way into the hands of many experiential education programs.
Whether you as an instructor feel strongly for or against the use of technology in the adventure education field, the question of safety can play a large part in the decision of whether or not to use it in your program. Say, for instance, your program decides to stick with their roots and bring teenagers into the woods without the use of GPS units, weather radios, or more importantly, satellite phones. One of your participants is severely wounded in the backcountry and suffers harshly from a loss of blood because you were not able to call for a helicopter rescue. Your company is sued for negligence because you could have carried a satellite phone, but chose not to. These are the sort of concerns that we must be aware of.
As I have made very clear, there are many pros and cons to using technology in a wilderness setting while educating people. After having a week in the position of a participant, I found it provoking at times working with these “iffy” devices. There were times when they would work and I was fascinated at how easy it was, and there were others when they did not, and I became frustrated with it. It has been brought to my attention that in the near future, I will be faced with decisions regarding the usage of technology, and I strongly feel that I will be able to make those decisions appropriately when the time comes.
