Modern geography in the classroom: Interactive maps for students!

Modern geography in the classroom: Interactive maps for students!

The Institute for Geography Didactics University of Cologne has published extensive teaching materials for geography lessons in collaboration with the State Statistical Office. These resources are specifically designed to train students to address controversial geographical issues. The materials are based on current data on topics such as population density and land use and are supported by the interactive map services from IT.NRW and the Statistical Association.

The initiative was initiated after employees of the State Statistical Office contacted the Cologne institute. The collaboration included the development of teaching materials aligned with the core geography curricula. Student teachers developed, tested and optimized the tasks before they were published.

Focus on current geographical topics

The materials cover various geographical issues, such as structural change in North Rhine-Westphalia, population development and spatial planning decisions. Students are encouraged to think about infrastructural changes in their community in a year of demographic change. For example, they discuss the construction of a new hospital to improve medical care and the effects of an expanded public transport service to Cologne.

A central goal of the project is to promote students’ subject-specific argumentation. Through map-based reasoning, they will learn to develop well-founded arguments on controversial geographical topics. The teaching materials are now available with didactic information for school lessons and will be supplemented with additional materials in the future.

Digital tools for geography teaching

It is also dedicated to the context of digital learning environments Geo help, where numerous digital tools for teaching geography are listed. These include applications such asAction Bound, which make it possible to create digital educational routes in a scavenger hunt style. Those tooAdobe Creative Cloud Expressis highlighted because it helps teachers and students implement creative projects.

• Ancient Earth globe: Veranschaulicht plattentektonische Bewegungen.
• Geo:Spektiv: Lernmodule vom Pädagogischen Hochschule Heidelberg.
• Google Timelapse: Satellitenbilder seit 1984 zur Darstellung von Veränderungen.

Also worth mentioning are the experiences from the project University of Potsdam, which has developed digital learning environments for geography lessons. A participatory approach is pursued that involves teachers, pupils and students. The aim is to create practical digital learning formats, including virtual reality learning environments and escape games.

Overall, the proximity between theory and practice, as promoted by these projects, is a crucial step in the further development of geography didactics in Germany. Teachers and students alike benefit from this collaboration, which provides new impetus for teaching.

For further information and to download the school materials free of charge, you can contact the people responsible, Isabelle Kunze and Eva Schissler.