To witness the sheer wonder and joy students experience
As students begin to navigate a virtual learning environment in response to the COVID-19 crisis, photographs, videos and new media included in the programs may offer new windows onto the world at a time when it needs to catalyze awareness of global village in ways that inspire positive change. In response to the scenario, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) is launching Canadian Geographic Education’s #OnlineClassroom.
The program offers its free, bilingual learning tools to all Canadians to support teachers, parents, and students isolating at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. #OnlineClassroom provides Can Geo Education with a great opportunity to reach more students, parents, teachers and everyone else through dynamic resources that educate and entertain at the same time.
Designed to inspire and aware
The #OnlineClassroom is starting off with a bang by launching The Anthropocene Education program, which will take students on adventures through augmented and virtual reality. Geared toward grades 4 to 12, this initiative develops student’s understandings of our world’s most pressing environmental challenges, such as plastic waste issues, species extinction, and climate change.
Can Geo Education partnered with The Anthropocene Project, an internationally celebrated Canadian project created by renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky and award-winning filmmakers Nicholas de Pencier and Jennifer Baichwal. Through evocative photography, a documentary, 360-degree cinematography, and captivating augmented-reality installations, this multimedia project explains the emergence of the Anthropocene epoch, distinguished by human-caused changes to our planet.
Witness planetary change
Students need only a smartphone or tablet to explore a 3D model of Big Lonely Doug, a 1,000-year-old Douglas fir in a clear-cut forest in British Columbia, or to learn about issues such as urbanization in Lagos, Nigeria, or resource extraction in Italy’s marble quarries. And students can also watch 360-degree virtual reality films online or download them to a VR headset. All these resources, and many more, include lesson plans.
In addition to launching a new virtual classroom, RCGS will also be hosting Google Hangouts where participants can join explorers for video chats on a variety of topics, and other activities such as trivia challenges and mapping exercises.
