ageoBOX – fostering learning with geospatial technologies

The Austrian GI umbrella organization ‘ageo’ recognizes and prioritizes the exposure of next generation professionals to geospatial technologies. While it is unanimously accepted that these tools increasingly are at the core of societal progress and business innovation, their presence in secondary education leaves much to be desired. With the aim of lowering the hurdles for pupils and teachers alike, ageo designs and develops a set of online teaching & learning resources.

The ’box’ metaphor in ageoBOX alludes to a ‘kit’ or ‘bundle’ of materials openly available to everyone – and as a web-based resource of course everywhere at any time. Motivated by a range of showcase projects and career examples, working with ‘Geoinformation’ is presented as a cross-curriculum theme aimed at enabling citizens as well as professionals to fully participate in a ‘Digital Earth’.

A majority of resources are based on geospatial storymaps, fully leveraging the potential of a natively ‘spatially enabled’ learning environment based on the fact of ‘whatever happens, happens somewhere’. With a gallery of dynamic, and partially interactive storymaps learners are given the opportunity to immerse themselves into the topics defining today’s global issues of sustainability, climate crisis, disparities and resources; as well as regional and local themes addressing environment, histories and participation.

ageo also encourages volunteer ‘geomentors’ to support geospatial learning in their communities. This is a call for action and engagement to connect across generations and professions in our all role as citizens. Schools, teachers and learners need all the support they can get to develop into competent and skilled participants in a digitally transformed and geospatially enabled world.   

https://ageobox.maps.arcgis.com

Primary school sample (Penguins) https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=e9e1b77deaec40cfac2a8fae499908fb