A day in Edinburgh for Google Earth

Great to be up with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools this month in Edinburgh and have the chance to work with a great group of geography (and science!) teachers.

A few pointers for the attendees and anyone else interested in using Google Earth and GPS in the classroom:

• the basic and advanced manuals are available for download
• there’s also a manual on how to use a variety of ICT tools for doing School Grounds Projects (see the bottom of the page
• check out the blog for a range of different resources and ideas, including the post ’40+ ideas on using Google Earth and Maps in the classroom’
• Digital Explorer produced resources for the RGS on using Google Earth
• and if that’s not enough, we have form and assembly resources from our recent expedition to Pakistan

Do be in touch if you need any other advice

New Pakistan resources launched

Digital Explorer has recently launched a series of resources aimed at assemblies and tutor/form time. The resources are part of the Journey to Pakistan 2010 Expedition and are being released on a weekly basis along with a new video from the expedition.

The first episode (above) focuses on the ideas of Pakistan that the student team who were on the expedition before they left, with the second episode looking at the impact of the media on our perception of other countries. All the resources, will appear on the Offscreen Expeditions Teachers page.

In addition to the classroom resources and videos, teachers and pupils can read the students’ blog, make comments and vote in weekly polls.

Expedition Websites (Content pt 1)

Content is king. Without good content, all the other effort you put into your website will be a waste of time and you will lose visitors. There are two types of content: static and dynamic. Static content describes the content that you usually type once and doesn’t change, such as information about your project and team. Dynamic content describes the updates that you send during the expedition, often in the form of a blog. A common technical distinction is that static content is contained within pages and dynamic content is contained within (blog posts). (more…)

Expedition Websites (Basics)

There is an unspoken rule that every expedition must have a website, in some ways akin to the current phenomenon that nothing actually happens unless it is posted on Facebook. However, underlying this accepted norm is something that reaches into what 21st Century exploration is all about.

If exploration is the process of discovering new knowledge about our planet and its people, should we not be in the process of training local researchers to do the job for us, gradually relegating these overseas to nostalgia. What gives the current model legitimacy?

I would argue that it is the transformative power of the journey that results in so many of those involved in exploration and expeditions becoming passionate advocates and activists for environments and issues the world over, that is crucial. Expeditions return to the UK wild-eyed and passionate, capable of exciting, inspiring and sharing their experiences and discoveries. (more…)

Conversations on education and exploration with a Tibetan monk

Good morning class, here’s your new teacher

I didn’t recognise Tenzin Tsepak initially. The streets around the main temple complex in McLeod Ganj, North India, were thronging with a crowd welcoming HH the Dalai Lama back on his return from a trip to the USA. Tenzin, of course, looked older, since we first met fifteen years ago. He was also now a layman. A “turbulent” marriage with a American woman had ended a number of years previously, and a diet of pizza and masala chai from the new monastery cafe had replaced the meagre rations of the monastic kitchen.

We caught up on this and that, eventually turning to what we were up to at the moment. Tenzin currently works as a translator for HH the Dalai Lama. I explained the work that I do with Digital Explorer and the problems that I faced trying to create a compassionate response from young people in Britain regarding issues that seem very far away. Why should a teenager care if his trainers are made in a sweatshop or that the ice shelves around the Antarctic and disappearing with their wildlife because of climate change? (more…)