Educated in schools designed as “open schools” for their floor plans and progressive philosophies, I found the concept of a “classroom without walls” easy to embrace when I became a teacher. For my peers and me growing up, the walls of the building were only there to support the roof—most learning took place outside the schoolhouse entirely, whether through local wilderness and city immersion experiences or domestic and global travel. I don’t remember ever feeling disconnected from the world, honestly, even when I felt powerless to do anything about the human conflict and poverty I saw, and this was long before we had the Internet. Later, as a teacher, I used every means I could find to connect my students to real people willing to share their experiences and perspectives, and the arrival of connective technologies just shifted the form of engagement, not the intent. Read more