Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016 1 Investigations into the role of technology in Geography Fieldwork Out with the field sketches and in with the ipad – How useful is technology in geographical fieldwork? Fieldwork is a fundamental part of geographical enquiry and it has been shown to give pupils a positive experience and the opportunity to ground their geographical skills ideas, values and attitudes in a real world situation (Barratt et al. 1997). The Department for Education has included fieldwork as an integral part of the GCSE and A‐level reform. There is now strengthened content requirements for fieldwork, particularly at GCSE, in that students must be offered different approaches to fieldwork undertaken in at least two contrasting environments and schools must confirm that they have offered all students these opportunities (Geographical Association, 2015). With this change Perse Geography is reassessing how it approaches skills and fieldwork and we will be integrating fieldwork into every year’s Scheme of Learning from Year 7‐13. From September 2016 end of year exams will also contain a fieldwork component making these summer exams from Year 7‐10 more in line with the new GCSE and A – level format. This academic year is also ‘The Year of Fieldwork’ as part of this celebration, ESRI, Field Studies Council, the Geographical Association, Ordnance Survey and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) are working together and there are many interesting new areas of research being published this year – particularly a project from the GA called Spatially Speaking on the uses of GIS in fieldwork. There has been much research into the use of technology, GPS and virtual fieldwork (Green and King, 2004). However, as many of the studies come to the conclusion of, virtual fieldwork is not a substitute for getting into the field (Taylor, 2005) and the department also hold this view. As a result I am going to focus my research on the collection and presentation of primary data and enhancing the fieldwork experience and not virtual fieldwork. In order to do this I will review current practise from a Field Studies Council (FSC) centre and use this experience to trial the use of the ipads to support data collection in the field at The Perse. Fieldwork is a fundamental part of Geography at The Perse and as a department we already use technology to support the geographical enquiry process through use of Google Earth, GPS handsets and GE graph to help students in the GCSE and A2 course to collect and present data. The use of ipads in fieldwork is a new area of usage both at The Perse and for the FSC. Little has been written about the use of ipads for fieldwork and I am interested in the practicalities of using them in the field and students perception of them as a fieldwork tool.
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Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016
1
Investigations into the role of technology in Geography
Fieldwork
Out with the field sketches and in with the ipad – How useful is
technology in geographical fieldwork?
Fieldwork is a fundamental part of geographical enquiry and it has been shown to give pupils a positive
experience and the opportunity to ground their geographical skills ideas, values and attitudes in a real
world situation (Barratt et al. 1997). The Department for Education has included fieldwork as an integral
part of the GCSE and A‐level reform. There is now strengthened content requirements for fieldwork,
particularly at GCSE, in that students must be offered different approaches to fieldwork undertaken in
at least two contrasting environments and schools must confirm that they have offered all students
these opportunities (Geographical Association, 2015). With this change Perse Geography is reassessing
how it approaches skills and fieldwork and we will be integrating fieldwork into every year’s Scheme of
Learning from Year 7‐13. From September 2016 end of year exams will also contain a fieldwork
component making these summer exams from Year 7‐10 more in line with the new GCSE and A – level
format. This academic year is also ‘The Year of Fieldwork’ as part of this celebration, ESRI, Field Studies
Council, the Geographical Association, Ordnance Survey and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
are working together and there are many interesting new areas of research being published this year –
particularly a project from the GA called Spatially Speaking on the uses of GIS in fieldwork.
There has been much research into the use of technology, GPS and virtual fieldwork (Green and King,
2004). However, as many of the studies come to the conclusion of, virtual fieldwork is not a substitute
for getting into the field (Taylor, 2005) and the department also hold this view. As a result I am going to
focus my research on the collection and presentation of primary data and enhancing the fieldwork
experience and not virtual fieldwork. In order to do this I will review current practise from a Field
Studies Council (FSC) centre and use this experience to trial the use of the ipads to support data
collection in the field at The Perse. Fieldwork is a fundamental part of Geography at The Perse and as a
department we already use technology to support the geographical enquiry process through use of
Google Earth, GPS handsets and GE graph to help students in the GCSE and A2 course to collect and
present data. The use of ipads in fieldwork is a new area of usage both at The Perse and for the FSC.
Little has been written about the use of ipads for fieldwork and I am interested in the practicalities of
using them in the field and students perception of them as a fieldwork tool.
Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016
2
Existing uses of the ipad in fieldwork
Field Studies Council
The Field Studies Council (FSC) is a large organisation (each year over 140,000 people experience FSC
education) and it is a longstanding charity that teaches environmental education. The FSC has been
providing GCSE and A level fieldwork opportunities for a number of years and the FSC also receives
training from the Geographical Association and has achieved their Secondary Quality Mark (a
framework that has been developed by the Geographical Association supporting the teaching of quality
geography). The Perse has also used FSC centres for GCSE fieldwork preparation in the past.
As part of the preliminary work into how we could use ipads more effectively I visited a Field Studies
Centre in Juniper Hall in Surrey on 14/15/15. This site had been recommended to visit by FSC Head
Office (Jason Lock) as a centre that was taking the lead in the use of ipads in Geographical Fieldwork.
Juniper Hall offers many opportunities to undertake a wide range of fieldwork studies, leased off the
National Trust the centre has access to deciduous woodland, rivers and rocky coastal environments. As
we are looking for new sites to undertake the reformed GCSE and A‐ level fieldwork this visit also served
as a very useful reconnaissance opportunity.
I was met by one of the FSC tutors, Joise Mclaren who has been using ipads at the centre for over 3
years. The centre currently has 25 ipad Air’s and has built up their collection over the last 4 years. ipads
are used regularly by the centre and they are currently finalising how to embed their use further into
the new specifications fieldwork demands when the finalised specifications come out in January.
Juniper Hall could be a potential
site for L/U6th fieldwork as an
established provider under 2.5hrs
from the Perse School.
Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016
3
ipad covers & practicalities
Juniper Hall ipads all were housed in Lifeproof cases (see below). These cases had been used by Juniper
Hall staff on many fieldwork trips throughout all weather conditions. That year and Josie had seen these
being sat on by students as well as fully submerged while students were collecting river data. She was
clearly very happy with their durability. At £89.00 these would represent a significant cost to the
Geography Department and would perhaps only need a half class set once effective and substantial use
of ipads in the field had been identified and embedded into the Schemes of Learning.
Ipads at Juniper Hall are currently transported between the FSC centre and sample sites by the students
although staff at Juniper Hall are looking into a Peli cases. The Perse Exploration Society already uses
Peli cases to store and transport many of its fragile and high cost items such as the recently purchased
radios. Peli cases could be an effective and safe way of transporting ipads even without cases as the
foam inserts could store them until needed in the field. Again there is a significant cost involved as a
case large enough to store half a class set or 15 costs around £173 (see below). Currently the ipads are
charged overnight using the charging cables that come with the ipads and they have had no problems
with the ipads needing further charging during the day. The Field Studies Centre is looking into a
charging trolley such as the ones that we currently have at The Perse to improve security and ease of
charging.
Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016
4
ESRI ArcGIS & Collector Apps
FSC have been working with ESRI UK to incorporate their GIS technology into their geography fieldwork
courses to help develop a deeper understanding of the world through geospatial data analysis. The tools
they provide can help students during their geography fieldwork to interpret and evaluate data from
many sources to develop theories and test their knowledge. This software is clearly promoted on their
website and was the first app that Josie was keen to talk about as their ‘flagship’ technology. Bearing in
mind that from my basic web search ArcGIS Basic (Single Use) costs £1,600.00 + VAT this is not a low
cost option. As the FSC is a large organisation they have a discount on ESRI software that they can also
extend to schools making the GIS software perhaps more affordable.
FSC have worked with the Open University to develop a web‐based system for collating data from
student groups using mobile devices, even in areas without internet connectivity called the Field
Network System. This essentially was using Drop Box to upload pupil data and present a class set of
result tables and charts, for the students to interpret and discuss, rather than having to go back to the
classroom to do it manually. The time saved can then be used to explore the subject matter in greater
depth. FSC’s field teachers can also use the system to review the students’ geography fieldwork and
personalise their support to meet the needs of each group.
On closer questioning of how the FSC Centre at Juniper Hall uses the ipads in the field it was clear that
not only do we have the wifi only versions of the ipad (without GPS) the extent to which the full
functionality of the ESRI GIS software was being used practically by Juniper Hall was very minimal. On
reflection a more cost effective method to produce roughly the same results would be: pupils loading
up the study area in school, while there is wifi access, from Digimaps or Google Maps (both of which
The Perse already has access to) and just use their geographical skills or even the GPS handsets or
personal phones to find their location and plot on the information manually.
ArcGIS – Collector App. This is an
extract from the FSC showing that
students can use their GPS locations
to assess flood impact / risk on to a
map even while offline
Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016
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Other useful apps
Decibel Ultra
Decibel Ultra is a free app that can be used to measure sound levels. Measuring sound
levels can be a useful tool in distinguishing noise pollution as part of an environmental
quality survey in an urban study.
Currently pupils at The Perse have used their personal phones to play a ring tone and have inferred the
noise levels by measuring the distance at which that can walk away from the phone and still hear the
noise. Being able to measure the noise levels directly would be a far more accurate and reliable method
of data collection and enable students to draw more reliable conclusions from their data collection.
On trailing Decibel Ultra at Juniper Hall I found the app to be very intuitive and it has a dual meter
display, one showing average noise levels and the other indicates peak readings. This is particularly
useful as it allows students to make decisions about the data that they want to collect and be able to
justify their choices as part of the reflection on data collection methods – a vital part of the enquiry
process. The app can also record up to max. 1200 measured points these can then be copied or e‐
mailed to a student’s account on returning to school and they include date and time formats for ease of
data interpretation.
Current data collection for noise
survey’s that, although simple not
that accurate or reliable.
A screen shot from Decibel Ultra
showing the clear dual display and
easy to read output.
Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016
6
Skitch
Skitch is a free app that Juniper Hall staff use as an enhanced method of field sketching
and annotating photos. Skitch is an easy to use and somewhat basic app that allows
students to annotate images with arrows, shapes, text, and pictures. Juniper Hall staff use this app
commonly to introduce a study area and allow students to take notes on the context of a sample
location while out in the field. On using the app at Juniper Hall I found that the app was simple to use,
but did not have as much functionality as Explain Everything which allows students to connect sample
locations and be more creative with their data presentation. As a result I would not reccomnend this
app for downloading onto the Geography ipads.
Freeze Paint
Freeze Paint is a free app on that enables students to copy parts of a photo onto other
photos or to make multiple copies of parts of an image on a single background image.
On trialling the app at Juniper Hall I found it simple to use as all you have to do is point
your camera at the area you are interested in and rub over the part of the image on the screen you
want to 'freeze' and copy. Then you can look around, point the camera at something else and add it,
until you’ve made a collage of images. This is could be very useful to capture series of images showing
geographical changes. For example in urban fieldwork students could collect a series of parts of an
urban transect along a base OS map. At Juniper Hall Freeze Paint was being used by students to select
from a coastline study area the process of erosion though series of coastal landforms to illustrate the
stages in formation – cave, arch, stack, stump etc. As there are multiple potential uses for this app and it
is free I would encourage the department to consider downloading this app onto the Geography ipads.
A screen shot from a students work
on Skitch from Juniper Hall. The app
although simple and effective is a
little too basic and does not allow as
much flexibility of use as the app
Explain Everything which we currently
use in Perse Geography
Elizabeth Gladwell 2015‐2016
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Edu Creations – interactive white board
Edu Creations was the newest app that Joise and the other staff at the FSC had just
started to use to help pupils present their data. The app allows students to use the ipad as a mini
electronic white board and create slides that contain photos, text and record sounds. Although on the
day of my visit I was unable to trial the app from the description and later investigation of the iTunes