The inspiration for this idea stemmed from the goals I set for myself and my new group of students this semester. Prior to covid, and being a program-based school, we had the luxury of going on outings and field trips easily and often. However, obviously, that came to an abrupt halt for a few years. Slowly we are starting to venture back to a pre-pandemic state, one where experiential and place-based learning is again possible. Thus, one goal was to “get out” more, experience more, have the students out and about in the community and learn in more immersive ways. In comes LearnGO – learning on the go.
Let’s break out of the classroom and explore and discover with LearnGO.
Watch the screencast on your mobile device: https://vimeo.com/user152668107/learngo
Click here to view the full site: https://sites.google.com/view/etec523a3/home
I would love to hear your questions and comments on this forecast.
Enjoy
What a great idea, Meagan, to use the virtual world to encourage a learner to explore more what is around them and what is real! I also noticed that you paid close attention to mobile phones in your theory, and you seem to be the only author who did that. Thank you! It was a pleasure to study your project! Regards, Anna
Hi Megan,
This is a great app that combines the elements of games like Pokemon GO, interests like geocaching, and of course, place based learning. The fact that it currently has limited content is one of its biggest downfalls, particularly for those of us who live in more remote locations, or wish to visit those much more remote locations, like when visiting Indigenous locations. Hopefully to connectivity issues can be resolved by things like StarLink creating global internet.
Well done!
Hi, thanks for your feedback. I envision various tourism sites wanting to provide data and content to inform learners and promote their cities etc. You are correct though, remote location with connectivity issues is a large drawback (for this and many mobile forecasts). I looked into getting StarLink at the cottage, it would have worked well but was too expensive.
Hello Megan,
I think you’ve done a fantastic job on this, and it sounds like a forecasted technology that I would love to try with my own class if it ever does come to fruition! This would also be something this would be great for students to use at home with parents. I really like how it would have the ability to bring the learning to wherever the student is (or at least give them lots of options around whatever location they may be in)
During covid, many locations turned to “virtual” field trips in place of the full field trips that students were no longer able to go on. The problem with this, of course, is that a video of a museum is just not quite as engaging as see the real thing. Your idea combines real field trips with virtual ones, in a way that would still be very exciting and fun for students. It would also be an alternative to the costs associated with field trips that often hold classes back.
This idea also doesn’t feel like it is too far into the future, as it relies on technologies that already exist, just brought together into one cohesive app. I’m actually quite surprised that something like this doesn’t already exist! Great work, the level of thought and detail that you’ve clearly put into this is impressive!
Thanks Jamie, I would love for my kids to be learning on their phones at say the grocery store, rather than just on them playing bubble pop or something else “non-educational.”
Well-done, Meagan! The writing is detailed, engaging, and clear, and the idea of the app sounds interesting. I appreciate that you mention both benefits and drawbacks. The design of the website is very pleasant and is certainly mobile-friendly. It is great that you include an example of use. The interface looks very nice! I like how you evidently communicate your personal interest and passion about this app. I wonder how this app will look like in the future? What changes (positive or negative) would occur in the geo location technology, for example? Intriguing!
Overall, good work! Thank you for sharing!
Hello,
Just passing on that the Vimeo screencast link doesn’t work. Also, the website looks great!
-Jamie
Hi Jamie, this is my first time using vimeo. I think I’ve made the video public so it should work now. Thanks for letting me know.
I like the geo-tagging aspect of this app. I also see a great connection to indigenous story-telling to link to different locations and a user added function. Like Wikipedia, users could could upload their info, though it would need to be moderated for educational appropriateness. Nice work! Thank you for sharing