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Bringing Learning to Life at Fowey Community College

"The students love to play with technology - when they're using it they're more willing to learn," says Chris Challis, Head of Humanities at Fowey Community College in Cornwall. As the driving force behind an innovative new approach to teaching, both for academic and extra-curricular purposes, Chris is keen to share the exciting new lessons his pupils have been enjoying.

Forward-thinking Fowey Community College has integrated the use of Satmap Active 10 handheld GPS units into its curriculum to help children across a range of ages learn new skills, interact with technology and develop their coursework. Being a Technology and Vocational specialist college, Fowey is constantly seeking new ways to provide its students with opportunities to learn using new technologies, and so the use of Satmap Active 10 handheld GPS devices has been very well supported.

Six-figure grid references are part of the curriculum for Year 7 students, and the pupils are taught using Ordnance Survey mapping. But the lesson doesn't stop in the classroom. To give the children a sense of investment in their own education, they are taught to self-assess their own accuracy using the Satmap Active 10 GPS units. In addition to reinforcing the importance of precision when using the grid references, this approach has helped bring theoretical concepts to life. Chris identifies that using GPS has been a catalyst for this process. He was keen, however, to keep all lessons based around Ordnance Survey mapping to maintain continuity: "This made the Satmap Active 10 the obvious choice," he says. "Despite its compact size, it uses real Ordnance Survey mapping which is displayed on a large, easy-to-view screen."

Flexibility is key when investing in technology which will be used across ages and subjects. "We've really benefited from using the Satmap units beyond their obvious capabilities," Chris enthuses. "A lot of pupils struggle to see maps as a 3D landscape, but the elevation profile displayed with the map helps them grasp contours and altitude. It makes it more relevant when they can visualise real features."

When Fowey's pupils study physical geography, they're not constrained by the textbooks. Being situated in Cornwall, there are plenty of opportunities to explore features in the local landscape. When it comes to learning about rivers, Chris encourages students to use the Satmap Active 10 units to pinpoint specific features on the map, and then describe them. They can then use the highly detailed Ordnance Survey mapping to zoom in and cross reference their surroundings to confirm their position.

The Satmap Active 10 has not just added value to the teaching process. The units are delivering tangible benefits in supporting controlled assessment for GCSE. For example, students are required to show good awareness of the location in which they work when completing GCSE geography assessment. Pupils use the Satmap Active 10 to reference exactly where they are when they do their survey. "Thanks to the amazing accuracy of the Satmap units, we can record locations not just to 6, but to 10 figures if we want," Chris states. "The benefit for the students here is that it enables them to report their exact location, and they can even include latitude and longitude. This introduces the important concept of geographic information systems (GIS), and the building up of layers of detail." As part of the controlled assessment, the pupils draw their own sketch map and can use the Satmap Active 10 to help identify and record detail.

Chris is now looking to expand the benefits from the Satmap Active 10 units by introducing a series of 'dual learning' exercises based around geocaching. Geocaching is a GPS-based 'treasure hunt', where participants follow a series of references to discover the hidden treasure - a 'cache'. Chris sees this as a great opportunity for an engaging team exercise which develops skills such as teamwork and planning.

Each unit is soon to be allocated to an individual pupil, who will then be in charge of updating software and keeping the unit in good order. Chris believes this will teach them important life skills such as personal responsibility.

Reflecting on the positive uptake his new approach has had, Chris reveals: "I'm thinking of starting an after-school club to give the pupils more time practising their skills with the units outside of the classroom." He adds, "I know there will be a big uptake, and I'm already finding the students want to borrow them at weekends." Who says learning can't be fun?

Chris Challis
Head of Humanities

Fowey Community College
Cornwall