Taking into Account Sensory Knowledge (original) (raw)
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This paper argues for designing geo-technologies supporting non-visual sensory knowledge. Sensory knowledge refers to the implicit and explicit knowledge guiding our uses of our senses to understand the world. To support our argument, we build on an 18 months field-study on geography classes for primary school children with visual impairments. Our findings show (1) a paradox in the use of non-visual sensory knowledge: described as fundamental to the geography curriculum, it is mostly kept out of school; (2) that accessible geo-technologies in the literature mainly focus on substituting vision with another modality, rather than enabling teachers to build on children's experiences; (3) the importance of the hearing sense in learning about space. We then introduce a probe, a wrist-worn device enabling children to record audio cues during field-trips. By giving importance to children's hearing skills, it modified existing practices and actors' opinions on non-visual sensory knowledge. We conclude by reflecting on design implications, and the role of technologies in valuing diverse ways of understanding the world.
1991
This monograph examines issues and problems involved in teaching geography concepts to visually and hearing impaired elementary school children. Some solutions are offered by providing a teaching unit for classroom use. The unit is designed to integrate and build upon the experiences and knowledge of all students in the class. The volume includes: (1) Preface; (2) Introduction; (3) Chapter 1-"The Sensory Impaired Child and Curriculum Issues"; (4)
An Exploratory Study of the Uses of a Multisensory Map—With Visually Impaired Children
Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 2018
This paper reports an empirical study of a multisensory map used by visually impaired primary school pupils, to study human habitats and differences between urban, suburban and rural areas using a local example. Using multimodal analysis, we propose to examine how the use of smell and taste shape pupils' engagement and the development of a non-visual knowledge of geography. Our research questions include: How do pupils try to make sense of this unusual material, in conjunction with the tactile, audio and tangible material used in this lesson? How does the special education teacher support the development of these interpretations? Multisensory material has the potential to support experiential and embodied learning: were these promises achieved? Our findings show how this multisensory map reconfigures spatial occupation and interaction dynamics, and that it has the potential to make the classroom more pervasive to pupils' social, spatial and emotional lives. In doing so, it provides opportunities for the teacher to develop citizenship education. The paper provides concrete examples of uses of smell and taste in learning activities to support engagement, and has implications for pedagogical design beyond special education.
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2020
Various 'turns' within human geography ('emotional', 'sensory', 'experimental', and 'creative') have highlighted the role that the senses play in our embodied and emotional experiences of place, and the need for more sensuous scholarly practices. Resulting work has enriched the discipline theoretically and methodologically, however, the same cannot be said for our pedagogy. Drawing on data relating to one undergraduate Honours option course, this paper highlights the powerful role that sensorially engaged pedagogy can play in transforming the awareness and understanding of geography students. It focuses, in particular, on methods of emphasising the embodied, emplaced and individually constructed nature of knowledge, the critical potential of play in the learning process, and how students might be emboldened to enact performances of understanding leading to a transformation in the person of the student.
GPS and Geography: Using Technology to Apply Geography with Middle Grade Students
2013
Despite the emphasis on 21st century learning in our schools, the use of technology and the opportunity to think creatively is often lacking in our social studies curriculum. Specifically, opportunities for students to apply the five themes of geography to the world around them is hard to undertake when teaching is primarily conducted via a traditional textbook or supplemented with only audio and visual materials. In order to give students an authentic opportunity to apply the five themes of geography and to build their 21st century learning skills through the use of creative thinking tasks, handheld global positioning system (GPS) devices were introduced to a middle grades classroom. This manuscript documents the steps taken with these handheld GPS devices over the course of a two-week unit on the five themes of geography. Following a detailed explanation of each day’s activity, a discussion highlights how the infusion of technology and the opportunity to think creatively created a...
Geospatial Physicalization in Geography Education
Journal of Geography, 2020
A novel method to create a physicalization of Digital Earth resulted a new type of analogue and tactile geographic information system (GIS). The model was tested by students in Australia, who shared insights into how the model supported their learning about the concept of “overlay” while providing an interesting and engaging learning platform. Observations suggest the model promoted collaborative learning, and provided a bridge between paper maps and digital GIS. This study offers insight into preferences of school children for physicalization models in geography education and contributes to an understanding of children's spatial thinking and understanding of the overlay concept.
193 Mapping Space Through Sounds and Noises – An Innovative Approach for Geography Education
This paper aims at describing different school projects pertaining to noise and sound recordings for spatial analysis, in France. Students, from primary to upper secondary school, used location-based mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones to record data during fieldwork courses and to map their localities. The projects address the issues of (1) the relationship between the body and a nearby space for primary students and secondary students and (2) the question of soundscapes (SCHAFFER 1992), i.e an acoustic environment by which we hear the full set of sounds of the space where we are, as a basis for the analysis of urban spaces. These experiments allow a better understanding of space navigation for individuals and space modeling with visual and symbolic data. In this paper, we also address the question of the effectiveness of location-based mobile devices for educational purposes. Moreover, these experiments offer new perspectives for spatial analysis within an educational context. Jekel, T., Car, A., Strobl, J. & Griesebner, G. (Eds.) (2012): GI_Forum 2012: Geovizualisation, Society and Learning. © Herbert Wichmann Verlag, VDE VERLAG GMBH, Berlin/Offenbach. ISBN 978-3-87907-521-8.
Mapping Space Through Sounds and Noises – An Innovative Approach for Geography Education
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2012
This paper aims at describing different school projects pertaining to noise and sound recordings for spatial analysis, in France. Students, from primary to upper secondary school, used location-based mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones to record data during fieldwork courses and to map their localities. The projects address the issues of (1) the relationship between the body and a nearby space for primary students and secondary students and (2) the question of soundscapes (SCHAFFER 1992), i.e an acoustic environment by which we hear the full set of sounds of the space where we are, as a basis for the analysis of urban spaces. These experiments allow a better understanding of space navigation for individuals and space modeling with visual and symbolic data. In this paper, we also address the question of the effectiveness of location-based mobile devices for educational purposes. Moreover, these experiments offer new perspectives for spatial analysis within an educational context.