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.

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…)

Google Earth Expedition Gallery #5 – Shimshal Expedition

This is the fifth entry in a series of expedition based Google Earth tours from Digital Explorer.

Download the Google Earth tour – Road to Shimshal 2006

You will need Google Earth to view the tour. If you don’t have Google Earth, you can download it for free:

Contact Digital Explorer, if you would like to make a Google Earth tour for your expedition or fieldwork.

Using ICT effectively in Geography

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GIS session at the RGS

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Mobiles ‘yes’, Mosques ‘no’

A digest of recent polls in The Week revealed that

52% of Britons believe the nation is deeply divided along religious lines. 46% say religious diversity has had a negative impact on the country. 55% would be troubled if a large mosque were built in their neighbourhood. Only 15% would feel the same about a church.
Manchester University social attitudes survey/ Daily Mail

Half of British children aged five to nine own a mobile phone, despite Government advice that no one under 16 should have one. 75% of children aged seven to 15 have one. The average age for a child to get his first mobile phone is eights and the average child’s bills is £10.50 a month.
PhonePay Plus/News of the World

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40+ ideas on using Google Earth and Maps in the classroom

These are some teaching ideas to accompany the Digital Explorer presentations at the Playful Learning Zone at BETT this year. Come and see us to find out more.

First things first, if you don’t have Google Earth, download it for your own computer and then be sure to pester the IT office to download it for your school. See the Digital Explorer research if you need to make a case to senior management. To use Google Maps fully you will need to have a Google account, sign up if you haven’t already.

Virtual Atlas
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BETT Google Earth and Google Maps presentation

Here’s a copy of the presentation to accompany the talks at the Playful Learning Zone at this year’s BETT show.

This year, we talked about how to progress with using Google Earth and Google Maps in the classroom all the way from using them as virtual atlases to using them as a base for local area projects and recording school trips and projects.

For a range of teaching ideas across the curriculum see the post 40+ ideas on using Google Earth and Maps in the classroom.

Castration, sausages and great educational TV

Saw the latest episode of Kill It, Cook It, Eat It on BBC3 yesterday evening and was very, very impressed. The programme exemplified a lot of the methodology that we use in the Digital Explorer expeditions and also gave me some ideas about how to improve for the next one.

The premise of the series is to create a connection between the meat that we eat and the process of rearing and killing animals, especially in processed forms such as burgers, sausages, etc. The importance of making empathetic connections is ever more urgent. Young people need to learn about the impact of their choices, especially when they are not immediately obvious. It would be great to take every secondary pupil to an abattoir or an industrial chicken farm, so that they could see the process with their own eyes. This probably won’t happen, but at least now we have a virtual trip that can be used in classrooms via the iplayer for weeks / years (?) to come (please BBC keep it up there).

So what can we learn as educators looking to make video for the classroom?

Feature pupil voice… a lot
This seems pretty obvious and is easy to do with your class. For me some of the best bits last night were characters like Phoebe or Luke speaking straight to camera on location about their experiences. These vox pop were sprinkled with cutaways of what they were talking about – castrating piglets has to be seen to be believed.

Keep it chunky
The programme was nicely segmented with very focused sections on different tasks. So we would have 5 minutes on piglet castration and discussion, 5 minutes of pig slaughter at the abattoir, and another 5 on all the wonderful ingredients that make a value sausage. Having short chunks of film makes it easier to use in the classroom, rather than a straight 30 minute episode.

Make it emotional
If you are looking to spark discussion or interest, emotional engagement really helps to promote empathy. The nature of this topic makes it quite easy, as does the inner working of the slaughterhouse, but there are also some nice experiential exercises. Three of the volunteers involved are weighed to see how big their pen would be if they were piglets. They are then made to crawl around a pen that size for 3 minutes. I can see this kind of exercise being copied in the classroom and being very effective.

Characters drive the story
The young people are well chosen and introduced as individuals with a back story as well. I think that this is something that we can develop more on Digital Explorer expeditions. It would be easier to do with a smaller group. The group size of six used in the programme works really well. If you are making films with a class some of the pupils will be better in front of camera, some will be better at shooting video and some better at directing. Use this diversity of talent.

Overall, well done to BBC3. A nice piece of educational film, all that’s needed now is to have it properly packaged and distributed to schools.

Digital Explorer work enhances geographical understanding for 80%

A recent report on the impact of Digital Explorer’s two year programme to improve the use of technology in the geography classroom has resulted in 80% of teachers involved noting an improvement in pupil engagement and understanding.

This is fantastic news and shows the positive impact that technology can have. A full copy of the report can be downloaded.