Cultural Competence in the Classroom

Posted by on
0

Let's Explore the World Together with GeoGuessr and GeoSettr

Posted by on
Image is labeled for reuse and found at www.entrepreneur.com
Have you ever wanted to be blindfolded and taken to some unknown place, dropped off, and try to find your way back home? I know I have! I see this happen in movies all the time and I always think, man that would be really cool to try (assuming that I would safely make it back home)!  If you're anything like me, you'll love GeoGuessr.

GeoGuessr simulates this experience by integrating Google Street View and Google Maps into its application.   With GeoGuessr, students have the opportunity to use their inquiry, observation, and research skills in order to determine where they are in the world.

GeoGuessr has a total of 5 rounds each time you play, and it awards points based on how close your guesses are to the actual location.  The closer your guess is to the actual location, the more points you get.  Moreover, teachers can choose specific places for their students to explore.  Instead of having a random selection of places, teachers can hand-pick specific locations that might connect to their curriculum, or a particular lesson.  Furthermore, teachers can also make it a competition for students to see who can make the most accurate guesses.  GeoGuessr is extremely versatile and has many applications to learning!  Below are some examples of skills and content areas that can be learned via GeoGuessr.






Better yet, you can also use its companion, GeoSettr, to set specific locations and create challenges for students.  For example, if a science teacher is teaching a specific lesson on biomes, he or she could offer a challenge to his or her students by selecting places around the world with different types of vegetation and have students guess where they are.

Here is an example of a challenge that I have created with GeoSettr.


With both GeoGuessr, and GeoSettr, students can practice using the following skills:
  • Inquiry
  • Observation
  • Research
  • Problem-Solving
  • Communication and collaboration (if students work in teams)
  • Competition (if the "Challenge" feature is used)

Students can engage in the following content areas:
  • Cultural Awareness
  • Geography
  • World Language
  • Architecture
  • Art (Visual Art such as paintings and statues)
  • Biomes
  • Vegetation
  • History
  • Symbolism (Signs)

We encourage our students to ask their own questions in order to explain the world around them.  This is exactly what GeoGuessr can provide for our students.  Have fun exploring the world with your students in a new and innovative way!


You might also like

Comments

Post a Comment