Learning Geography Beyond The Traditional Classroom

This book provides a collection of critical pieces that support the idea that good teaching and learning of geography in fieldwork and using technology should consider the dimensions of curriculum design, instructional design and resource provision, as well as assessment for such learning activities. Further, it clearly describes the thinking, experiences and critical comments concerning two broad areas of learning outside the traditional classroom – in the field and with technology.

In recent years there has been increased attention paid to the importance of assessment in Geographical Education, the chosen subject for this book. Assessment is an important tool for collecting information about student learning and for providing timely data to inform key stakeholders including students, teachers, parents and policymakers. To be effective, assessment needs to be valid, reliable and fair. Validity is about ensuring that we assess what we claim we are assessing. Reliability is about measuring performance and understanding in a consistent way. Without validity and reliability, assessment is unlikely to provide equitable opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and can do. As geography educators it is therefore important that we identify the core concepts and skills in geography that we want students to master. We need a clear understanding of what the progression of learning looks like for each concept and skill so we can develop fit for purpose assessments that track and improve student learning. While there is a substantial literature on evidence-based assessment in secondary school contexts, research exploring best-practice assessment in geography is rare. This is a concern given the distinctive nature of geography and the important role of assessment in the learning process. This scholarly collection seeks to address this issue by connecting research in educational assessment with the domain of geography. The chapters are written by leading researchers in Geographical Education from across the globe. These chapters provide examples of innovation through the collective voices of geography teacher educator scholars from across Australia, USA, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore. What unifies the work in this book, is that each chapter focuses on a key feature of the discipline of geography, providing scholarly examples of evidence-based practices for assessing student’s knowledge and skills.

Geography Education in the Digital World draws on theory and practice to provide a critical exploration of the role and practice of geography education within the digital world. It considers how living within a digital world influences teacher identity and professionalism and is changing young people’s lives. The book moves beyond the applied perspective of educational technology to engage with wider social and ethical issues of technology implementation and use of digital data within geography education. Situated at the intersection between research and practice, chapters draw on a wide range of theory to consider the role, adoption and potential challenges of a range of digital technologies in furthering geographical education for future generations. Bringing together academics from the fields of geography, geography education and teacher education, the book engages with four key themes within the digital world: Professional practice and personal identities. Geographical sources and connections. Geospatial technologies. Geographical fieldwork. This is a crucial read for geographers, geography educators and geography teacher educators, as well as those engaging with existing and new technologies to support geographical learning in the dynamic context of the digital world. It will also be of interest to any students, academics and policymakers wanting to better understand the impact of digital media on education.

This collected book is about the eduLab projects, an initiative with focus on Scaling Change through Apprenticising and Ecological Leadership, designed to surface and spread ground-up information and communication technology-based pedagogical innovations. It presents the goals and rationale behind eduLab, an overview of the research projects conducted by its principal investigators during its funding tenure, as well as synthesizing thoughts on the entire endeavor. This book not only marks the achievements of the eduLab programme but also serves as inspiration for future projects. It presents Singapore education in action – a continually evolving and adapting education system that delivers a system well known for its high quality as much as it is forward-looking.

This book shares with an international audience of teachers, scholars, and policymakers the experience of pedagogical practices to facilitate sustainability in the world. Sustainability is seen here as a journey toward the end state of sustainable development. Therefore, the authors contribute different roads to engage teachers and students with pedagogical discourse. Overall, the book demonstrates the value of powerful knowledge through action-oriented learning based on a bottom-up process. Consequently, pedagogical practices are understood as the instructional approaches based on a social constructivist model in which active learning is performed with student-to-student engagement. Secondary teachers in social sciences and university professors in geography find the study to be a valuable source of stimulation for incorporating new ideas and resolving common problems in their learning and teaching environments. Education policymakers around the world also benefit from the only publication that presents international perspectives on geographical knowledge related to sustainability. The contributing authors are experienced scientists in the field of geography education who are giving special attention to pedagogical practices that promote new directions toward sustainable thinking. This book is the first outcome of an international collaboration officially established in 2023 between the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Texas State University and the Department of Geography at the University of Bayreuth.

The field of digital technology in education has long been under-theorised. This book will enable the reader to reflect on the use of theory when explaining technology use and set out ways in which we can theorise better. It explores the concept of theory and looks at how teaching, learning and technology itself have been theorised. With relatable international case studies, it shows how theories underpin optimistic and pessimistic accounts of technology in education. This innovative book will help readers to understand more deeply the use of digital technology in education, as well as the idea of theory and how to develop a distinctly educational approach to theorising.

This book focuses on augmented reality (AR) technology, which uses the real environment to superimpose virtual elements. Therefore, the reader can create applications that simulate scenarios that can be dangerous or expensive to generate in the real world. AR has proven helpful in education, marketing, and industrial scenarios. AR technology improves the user experience of various disciplines, incorporating virtual information that maximizes the experience and adds knowledge. This book intends students, researchers, and developers to have the possibility of finding the foundations on which AR technology rests. Our book intends that students, researchers, and developers: (i) learn the basics of AR; (ii) understand the technologies that support AR; (iii) know about AR applications that have been a watershed; (iv) gain an understanding of the critical elements needed to implement an AR application; (v) acquire skill in the step-by-step development of an AR application; (vi) learn how to use the instruments to evaluate an AR application; (vii) understand how to present the information about study cases; and (viii) gain knowledge about AR challenges and trends.

Learning Primary Geography: Ideas and inspiration from classrooms celebrates children’s learning in primary geography. It is a book for all student and practising teachers who would like children to learn about their world in an enjoyable and stimulating way. Every page presents inspiring examples of children’s learning, and explains how and why creative approaches such as enquiry learning, learning outside the classroom, and using imaginative resources work so well in primary geography. Using illustrated case studies from a range of schools and classrooms, each chapter showcases the fantastic work all children can do in primary geography. The book explores a wide variety of geographical learning, with chapters focusing on key aspects of the subject, including: primary geography through the school grounds topical geography through issues and events learning about places in primary geography children’s agency and action through primary geography Throughout the chapters, the role of primary geography in helping children develop all types of literacies, including spatial, critical and digital literacies, is explored. Written by a highly experienced teacher and lecturer in education, Learning Primary Geography is underpinned and illustrated by examples from a wide range of primary classrooms. It will be a source of support, guidance and inspiration for all those teaching geography in the primary school.