GPS Technology in the Classroom and Geocaching
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 9:58AM In my previous article I talked about one of my new favorite hobbies, Geocaching. If you are not sure what geocaching is or how it works please visit geocaching.com for more details. I pondered on how this cool technology could be used with students. I have noticed that my own children's knowledge of directionality, judging distance, and map skills have significantly increased since we began Geocaching. The challenge with integrating Geocaching into the classroom, is that we are relatively limited in where we can go. I'm quite sure that a bus couldn't't make it to the places I have been, and the liabilities of taking a fourth grade class climbing up a 30 foot cliff are just a little to great. I think you will find that with a little searching you are likely to find a safe Geocache withing walking distance of of the school. If not you can always create one or two. I have thought about using the concept to create small learning stations scattered throughout our school grounds and then we could do an activity where in small groups students can find the learning stations using a GPS then complete the activities. I also think it would be fun to set up a geocache of our own as a class. to make it interesting for visitors we could include a book of student works such as poems or short stories . As people visit they will leave feedback and comments about your Geocache site that students can check periodically. These are just a few ways I have thought of to integrate GPS and geocaching in my classroom activities next year. Please ad your suggested activities in the comments.
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