Please study the website http://www.education.com/reference/article/GPS-technology-get-kids-outdoors/
In the comment section, please give one way you could use a GPS in your classroom if the devices were available. Just describe briefly your idea.
You are encouraged to read your colleagues ideas.
Pretty cool idea. Working at Boys Town, there are a lot of different things we could do on the grounds using GPS. I really like the idea of a scavenger hunt. I can see these activities building teamwork as well as being a fun and challenging experience for the students.
ReplyDeleteGPS in education is a pretty new and cool idea. Teaching math at Millard South High School, I can see myself using GPS in my classroom. There are numerous opportunities to use GPS especially in the construction and building trades fields.
ReplyDeleteThis is way cool.
ReplyDeleteKids would go crazy for a GPS treasure hunt. I love that this technology encourages outdoor enjoyment and preservation (if they pick up trash as they go.)
I'm really excited to try this out tomorrow!
I also love the idea of a treasure hunt and kids would love it too. I like that using GPS gets kids outside and moving instead of just sitting in front of the TV. Working in teams to find a "treasure" is a great team-building activity and encourages kids to work together as well. If the resources are there, this would definitely be a great idea to use with students.
ReplyDeleteI think a treasure hunt would be so much fun for the kids. I can see it being used in an American history class. Various items would be hunted pertaining to the subject matter being studied,e,g, American revolution, Civil War, etc. I really like the idea of the teamwork too.
ReplyDeleteUsing GPS technology in my classroom is definitely something that I have never ever thought of using before. I found this article to be very interesting, and it made me think in a new way.
ReplyDeleteI would want to try to apply this technology within an omaha project that we do every year, through a people/clue/find activity. I would split the class in half, one half with a few clues of a famous omaha person, and the other half would be the famous omaha people being searched. We would all go outside to the playground. After reading the facts about their person they would flip their card over to reveal their famous persons (the other students) location points, and would then enter them in the GPS and would then go find their person and at each stop they will need to ask the facts back to reveal if its the correct person. We would mix up the students rolls and do it again!
Conducting a GPS class with block scheduling and 90 minute classes seems like a natural fit. Currently we conduct indoor scavenger hunts in our math classrooms. Moving them outdoors and implementing a GPS would be very exciting for the students. Always looking for new ways to encorporate math skills in everyday living.
ReplyDeleteI could see the use of GPS technology in the non traditional classroom of outdoor education workshops for boy scouts, girl scouts and any other outdoor summer camp atmosphere. I could see a real cool science application in the middle school when they study plants or erosion around their school buildings. I'm looking forward to using GPS on Tuesday. We are also using it for our Aerospace Workshop class. Can't wait to use it when flying next Sat. or in our balloon launch tracking activity.
ReplyDeleteMy students would love this - especially because it gets them out of the classroom. I like the way the GPS encourages fitness as well as a green earth! I would like to try and find a geocache myself!
ReplyDeleteStudents love to get to have class outdoors. How great would it be to have several plans that would allow them to be outdoors and still engaged in learning!? Working at the elementary level, the treasure hunt seems like a natural fit. You could use specific points in the environment as markers or plant clues like the film canisters suggested in the article. I really like Janelle's role-playing idea.
ReplyDeleteI would ask the children to work in teams to develop their own scavenger hunts on a specific topic (like explorers). Teamwork in developing clues and answers for a scavenger hunt would be augmented by the teamwork in the actual hunting. The team helps each other stay focused on the task and not to get lazy.
I think I would use the scavenger hunt technique with science, social studies, or health (the Google Earth tracker told us how far we had walked today).
Going to the zoo is a yearly field trip where I think I could incorporate this technology. I would pre-plan a scavenger hunt, put the students in groups, and have them work together to find the answers. What a great way to engage the students and encourage team building. I would love to have them keep the tracks on so when we got back into the classroom they could retrace their steps.
ReplyDeleteJust like the article on clickers I am amazed at the various activities one can do using a GPS system. It has brought the hiking and camping experience to a higher level of enjoyment with the ablility to keep a record of ones trips and experiences with a GPS device. The geologists must also be beside themselves as to the various ways they can use a GPS system in their profession.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stacy's idea of designing a scavenger hunt at the zoo or field trip destination. The students could stay focused using the GPS, cooperate in a small group and get some exercise as well. I also wondered about having a class identify important community landmarks, find their postions and then email them to a "sister school" to see if they could locate and name them. The sister school could then return the favor.
ReplyDeleteUsing GPS in the classroom that is great. It is a wonderful tool for teaching mathematics and students will love it. I wish I will get the chance to use one in my clss.
ReplyDeleteI could see using this technology in a Trig assignment. A trek could be planned using bearings to arrive at the specific locations. Perhaps, we could down load the path they took, use a tool to measure distances. If any of the paths created triangles (perhaps preplanned in the path), the students could calculate the angles once back in the class room.
ReplyDeleteI thought the GPS were a great way to find the infomation we needed to complete the task. They could be a great team building activity for students or teachers.
ReplyDeleteI think I am going to use the airplane takeoff speeds that we were shown. Lots of math in that. I also like Stacy's zoo scavenger hunt idea. I wonder if there is already a zoo hunt prepared.
ReplyDeleteIf GPS technology was available to me for classroom use, I would probably utilize it most in my geometry classes. I would enjoy doing shapes and angles and really giving students a hands-on experience with math.
ReplyDeleteI think that I could use this with an activity I already do. I have the students move at different speeds over a distance of 10 meters. It would be fun to then move the activity outside over a longer distance with the GPS devices, and have them compare their results.
ReplyDeleteI loved this unit using GPS as I have used the scavenger hunt method for many different events and with my children. I am currently a substitute teacher and would love to design a GPS hunt that is educational to have available as an extra activity after assigned work is done. This, of course, would depend on the availability of the devices or I would have the students help design this unit with using their cell phones.
ReplyDeleteWhat if there's a bomb... or drugs... or a dead body in one of the geocaches?
ReplyDeleteThat's what everyone asked me when I shared this idea with them.
Also, I googled this and people get pulled over by the police for looking suspicious in the park...
Yikes!
I love the idea of giving students a scavenger hunt with the GPS, especially if you have them do something at each place. Great partner work, as well as a fun one!
ReplyDeleteI would love to enhance a project that I used during one of my courses where we had to do a road trip. This would greatly assist students on their journey. The scavenger hunt project sounds really cool too.
ReplyDeleteHigh School students would love participating in scavenger hunts that get them up an out of the building, As a team Smaller Learning Community leader I see it as a empowering team activity, science could use it to study how long term weather trends affect plant-life.
ReplyDeleteI would probably use GPS for a weekend Scavenger Hunt assignment that would involve parents in some way--educating both parent(s) and child on a particular topic of study. I realize that individual circumstances of each child would require careful consideration in coming up with a lesson that was fun, yet simple to implement.
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