Education Beyond the Infinite Scroll: Balancing Technology with Hands-On Learning at Gould Academy

Contributed by Associate Head of School for Strategy and Talent Sara Whalen Shifrin ’88

Can a learning experience be both digitally sophisticated and rooted “in place”? At Gould, the answer is “Yes.” As our ninth graders prepare to step off campus for their Four Point international immersion experience to Senegal, Costa Rica, Peru, and Dominica, they are engaging in a curriculum specifically designed to challenge the “bottomless feed” of the scroll—and to leave their smartphones behind.

From Pencils to Smartphones: A Teacher’s Perspective

I have taught ninth graders for thirty-four years. In that time, I’ve watched the classroom transition from the #2 graphite pencil and the blue book to the portable magic of laptops, and finally to the magnetic “pocket pull” of the smartphone. Technology is no longer just a tool; it is an unstoppable wave.

As educators, we must equip students to navigate this digital wave with agency while anchoring their attention in the slow, high-touch reality of the physical world. It is a delicate dance between the “infinite scroll” and the “finite experience,” and Gould moves in this space with deep intention.

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Teaching Human Skills in the Age of AI

In Human Geography, our Four Point prep begins with a “low-tech” soul: the work of plein air painter Tony Foster. Foster doesn’t merely paint landscapes; he documents the intersection of geology, biology, and human time.

Students meet him with a philosophical inquiry into beauty. They walk our campus, capturing often-overlooked moments that spark joy or wonder. They begin to slow their thinking. Using Foster’s work as inspiration, we then explore the world of watercolor. There is a quiet humility in realizing that a stroke of pigment on paper has a permanence that a “like” on Instagram never will. Through Foster’s example, we want them to wonder: What does it take to endure the Arctic or explore the Green River? What would I do to protect a fragile place?

ArcGIS: How Students Map Real-World Systems

Once their eyes are primed for observation, we pivot to the high-tech. Using ArcGIS—a leading geographic information system (GIS) used by scientists, governments, and planners to analyze spatial data and create digital maps—students move beyond the curated travel photos of a social media feed and into the underlying systems of their destination through satellite imagery.

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By navigating layers of geological data, biological systems, and human history, modeled by Foster’s recent exhibition Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective, the destination stops being a “trip” and becomes a system. To deepen this, students use Gemini AI as a research partner—not to bypass the effort, but to synthesize data and identify “local luminaries”—an approach modeled in Foster’s work. These are the individuals on the ground, past and present, who have moved the needle on environmental stewardship, human rights, or whatever they are discovering aligns with their emerging value set.

Student Reflection at the Core of Experiential Learning

As they conclude their research, each student writes a letter to themselves, to be delivered by their Four Point leaders during their homestay. This mirrors a forty-year Gould tradition where juniors write “solo letters” to be received during their first year of college.

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Look for underwater fossils or signs of volcanic activity. Feel how old the world is, and how many different people have stood in the place as you. Think about how many changes the world has gone through. These will help you think of ways to make your TED Talk unique. - From Isaiah W.’s letter to himself

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This letter is a prompt to seek out the “geological, biological and human time” they mapped in ArcGIS and the “fragile beauty” they saw in Foster. When they return, they won't just have hundreds of pictures; they will have a baseline of preconceived notions to measure against the lived reality of their travels. This is the priming that transforms a journey into a Four Point TED Talk—which is where the English curriculum picks up upon return.

Balancing Hands-On Learning and Digital Technology

At Gould, we embrace technological fluency with slow, place-based reflection. By pairing the methodical “habit of hand” found in a watercolor kit with the “habit of mind” required to navigate global data, Gould’s Four Point teaches our students a vital lesson: the world is far more interesting than the scroll.

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Want to know more?

• Exploring Beauty: Watercolour Diaries from the Wild
• Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective 
• The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt
• Shopclass as Soul Craft, Matthew Crawford