Electronics Policy

Dear Dragons-to-be,

We hope you are enjoying the winding down of school and and preparing yourselves mentally and emotionally for the adventure we’ll be embarking on in less than a month (gorge yourself on cheese while you still can)!

This post is designed to address major themes about our electronics policy and electronics access on course, and to open it up for any other questions and concerns you may have on your end.

As I’m sure you already know, Dragons courses are designed to be unplugged experiences. We ask that you disconnect from day-to-day social media habits in order to better be present in the place and moment where you’re at. This is crucial for building and deepening relationships within our group and for fostering authentic interaction with local people and communities where we’ll be exploring. For more details on this, please refer to your Dragons’ Course Preparation Manual under “Communication” and “Dragons Unplugged” sections on pages 11 and 12.

We understand that this may be a considerable challenge for some of you to set aside your social media presence, so we appreciate and thank you in advance for trusting us on this one.
Now, some of you may be thinking, if I can’t bring my smartphone or tablet along with me…

What CAN I bring?

• If you want to take photos, please bring a small portable camera
• If you want to listen to music as we’re en route between cities, please bring MP3 player that does not connect to the internet
• If you want to bring a Kindle to read books, please download all reads pre-course so that there’s no need to connect to internet during course

And what if my only MP3 player is an iPhone that could get me online if I fancied?

• In this case, your device will live in one of your instructor’s backpacks unless we are on a long bus/train/plane ride and you can’t abide it without your tunes (we prefer not to do this, and we are not liable/responsible for any damage or harm that could come to the device… )

So what about when I DO need to access the internet?

• We the instructor team carry a group tablet with us that students may share to write emails home, do research for independent projects, compose blog posts for the Yak Board, etc.

Ok, got it, what about adapters?

• Don’t sweat it. Your average two-pronged MP3 charger will fit in Chinese sockets, and if not the instructor team will carry an adapter as necessary.

Thank you for your patience and prudence in reviewing this. That’s all I’ve got for now. If you’ve got questions about anything communication or electronics related please send me an email at [email protected]

Wishing you all well,
Ian, Madeleine, Long Yun