Wisdom in Places

Underlying the movement of geo-learning via place-based information systems is the human desire to construct organizing themes in order to make sense of vast amounts of data. The modern technological approach is but the latest in an age-old quest, one made manifest in late paleolithic cave paintings, heaven-organizing constellations, and even highway-side billboards. Inherent to each of these is a desire to not only establish a connection with the surrounding environment, but also to express perceived meaning in asynchronous dialogue with present and future others. Although the relatively persistent nature of geo-based settings services this need well, physical locations may serve as more than mere bulletin boards displaying static content. As J. C. Spohrer notes, advances in technology have made possible opportunities to create augmented realities – experiences combining physical entities and virtual (and potentially interactive) overlays. An early example is the MIT Media Lab mini-tour of the mid-1990's, in which cameras were used to track participant movements in order to present appropriate and timely information.

The potential for integrated mobile media to engage learners with virtual, interactive points of interest in the natural world presents tremendous opportunities for engaging students in inquiry-based, situated learning. Students would, in effect, be handed the keys to unlocking the great database of their natural surroundings, on both the superficial as well as historical, cultural, and social levels. Rather than query this database with keywords and conditional statements, learners may employ naturalistic, deictic elicitations, identifying items by apparent qualities and characteristics. Beyond consumption, learners may also interact with their augmented reality, and contribute content of their own. What results is an ever-expanding, contextual mapping of geo-based, virtual media markers, connected through human interaction.

Surprisingly, this depiction of networked-based meaning making in augmented reality reflects the approach to geo-based learning in the Apache culture. As described by Keith Basso, the Apache ritually learn from, and ultimately contribute to mythic, place-based narratives designed to engender wise thinking. Accordingly, the Apache describe wisdom as “sitting in places,” forever linked to the locations in which the stories are set. A wise man is one who has traveled to these sacred sites, internalized their lessons, and ultimately serves as a guide to subsequent seekers.

One distinction between the Apache version of geo-learning and the modern is the rapid rate of data accumulation in the latter. The rate at which clutter, legitimate or otherwise, multiplies in the virtual world poses serious issues for the potential effectiveness of augmented realities. Then again, the wild vines of the natural world never fail to ultimately consume vestiges of human production, burying them in the sands of time. The future of geo-based learning will likely hinge on how well the virtual world follows suit.