GEO-Academy’s Post

Today at AIVC 2024 I will be presenting a brief background on children's thermal comfort in classrooms. 🏫 Compared to how much time we have spent on studying and designing for thermal comfort of adults, children's corresponding needs have only received a miniscule effort. 👦 👧 There are several possible reasons why children are likely to perceive the same thermal environment differently. In this presentation, I focus on more of a call to action. 📺 A narrative of the presentation can be seen here if you are not in-person at AIVC https://lnkd.in/ej-vhys7 📝 Also, if you would like to collaborate with us towards development of thermal comfort database for school classrooms, please do get in touch https://lnkd.in/ezE9Tywz #classrooms #thermalcomfort #healthyclassrooms #sustainableclassrooms work undertaken as part of the DOROTHY COFUND fellowship on INSIDE-AIR

➡If you have not had the chance yet to read our report “Overview of features, competences and tools for Education for Sustainable Development”, you can access it here: https://lnkd.in/ewJSimxs ⭐You will learn about the 5 #GEOConcepts, the GEO-Academy's conceptual approach to #SpatialSkills, #GreenSkills and #DigitalSkills, as well as about the pedagogical framework for teacher education and development, and tools and educational resources! #ErasmusPlus

Announcing: A Beginners Guide to Universal Design and Accommodations in Higher Education Classrooms. Please join us for this workshop on Thursday, April 18, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:30 am. This session will provide participants with some background knowledge on the theory, legal basis, and best practices behind classroom modifications and accommodations through an interactive activity and group discussion. The program will not teach all there is to know about this topic, but rather to act as a starting point that will allow participants to reflect on how they can begin to incorporate these ideas into their classroom. This session is presented by Lauren Neitzke Adamo, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor at The Department of Earth and Planetary Studies, SAS-NB. This session is included in the Classroom Inclusivity Series for Competency 3.

Beyond the confines of traditional classrooms, lies a vast and dynamic laboratory – nature itself. 🌿    Today, as we celebrate Science Education Day, we should focus on the power of outdoor learning. By embracing outdoor classrooms, teachers and students delve into the wonders of mother's nature first hand.   For the past decade, Spindrift for Schools has been at the forefront of this movement, offering resources and activities that integrate science education with nature and conservation. Inspired by the UN SDG 17 and accredited by the French national education curriculum, our program strives to instill a sense of stewardship for the planet while fostering critical thinking and curiosity in young students.   Whether it's experimenting with the different seasons, learning geometry in the forest or understanding the water cycle, the possibilities for learning in nature are as vast as the wilderness itself. By immersing themselves in the sights, sounds, and smells of the great outdoors, students not only gain a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of all living things but cultivate a sense of wonder and respect for our precious planet.   #spindriftforschools #educationantionale #education #scienceeducationday #science #SDG

Education professionals throughout the world are driven to create equitable and inclusive learning systems that ensure all students thrive. In doing so, regardless of their geography, they grapple with similar questions. Current research looks at how schools approach, structure, and support teaching and learning and offers a roadmap forward for #TheFutureOfEd. Download the latest case studies from Estonia and Finland that go beyond the book, exploring the core principles, innovations, and future outlooks of these diverse systems.  https://lnkd.in/gZYSMNAp Australian Council for Educational Research Geoff Masters #LearningToLeading #EdResearch #GlobalEdChat

The HEA Welcomes the Launch of the ALTITUDE Charter The Higher Education Authority (HEA) welcomes the launch of ALTITUDE – the National Charter for Universal Design in Tertiary Education, kickstarting a national conversation about how the sector can adopt the Charter and over time, work towards embedding a universal design approach. The ALTITUDE Project is funded under PATH (Programme for Access to Higher Education) Strand 4 Phase 1 - Universal Design Fund which was aimed at supporting the embedding of Universal Design (UD) approaches and inclusive practices in HEIs which will benefit all students and in particular autistic students and enable the building of capacity in HEIs for greater participation by students with intellectual disabilities in higher education. PATH programme is managed by the HEA on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and consists of five strands. PATH Strand 4 is a key driver in delivering the Inclusivity goal of the National Access Plan. https://lnkd.in/e3sruRAE https://lnkd.in/ecjMezAz

Many people do research without being aware of the hidden premises of the practice: Why are some ideas considered scientific knowledge and some not? Why are the “fathers” of various scientific disciplines, more often than not, Western males, even though people of different cultures and genders also made important contributions to our shared intellectual legacy? Why do the “hard sciences” develop rapidly while the “soft sciences” or “academic but non-scientific disciplines” seem to progress barely? Why did many systemic human-induced tragedies occur along with the dawn of modern science and technology? How might this history help us reevaluate our relationship with research today? Of course, there are many more crucial questions like these that are taken for granted or never discussed in research/scientific method classes. I believe that the Re-imagining research panel at Ecoversities’ Re-imagining Education Conference would be a great place to explore these issues. Honored to be invited to join this important discussion. For anyone who also cares about these issues, I look forward to talking to you during the session!

Can a university really save a seven-figure sum by changing the way teaching space is used? It may sound like a bold statement. But we promise you it’s not. And in our latest blog and free-to-view webinar, we show you how it is possible to make big savings across an estate by getting to the bottom of under-used space, ghost bookings and ways data is collected and used. There’s some maths involved, but if you work in university estate management then we know you won’t mind a little bit of number crunching 😊 And they’re numbers that uncover some fascinating insights. For example, did you know that a university with 200 teaching spaces or more could, potentially, save more than £2 million a year in running costs by raising its utilisation rate? You can check it all out here, and if you know a space management or timetabling colleague who might be interested, tag them below 👇 https://buff.ly/3xxxhwx #Escentral #Webinar #Blog #Timetabling #TeachingSpace #TeachingSpaceManagement #SpaceManagement #University

Firstly, congratulations to all the students and their teachers who received IB results on Friday. To avoid being a nuisance to my incredibly competent operations team, by hovering over their shoulders as they worked, on Thursday I instead attended the Festival of Education (https://lnkd.in/eXqUydkB) and was part of a panel organised by Public First. After opening statements which risked the panel being in violent agreement, we found some differences about the role of subject knowledge in how we teach young people. While I recognise that you need a body of knowledge to start making links and patterns between areas, I would argue that what that knowledge is doesn’t matter, you can learn what scientific truth or evidence means from any evidence base from palaeontology to astrophysics. Likewise you can learn the principles of literary analysis from any of the great (or even not so great) authors. I worry that when we specify what knowledge a student must learn we then start to focus on assessing that knowledge rather than assessing the higher order skills. We also know that students will need to continue learning new facts and areas of knowledge throughout their life, so is there a really a specific body of knowledge which an education must provide or is it about developing their skills in learning and thinking? There was also a great question from the audience on how much autonomy schools should have in developing curricula. As developing a curriculum framework and the key concepts is no easy task where do we draw the line between giving teachers freedom and supporting them with frameworks to work within. Of course the IB takes a very different approach to this across its different programmes, and I have seen individual schools thrive and struggle with each choice. A key thing to remember is that not all great teachers will be great curriculum designers (and converse is certainly true) so where is the right balance?

🌟 Did you know Digimap for Schools it's a valuable tool for iGCSE, IB, and iA levels? 🎓 Enhance students' learning experiences with our available mapping, overlays and tools. Find out more: https://ow.ly/5or050QxMMr #DigimapForSchools #GeographyEducation #GeographyLessons #GeographyCurriculum #GeographyLearning#GeographyTeacher