Geography Geo-Wiki in the Classroom: Using Crowdsourcing to Enhance Geographical Teaching

Christoph Perger, Ellsworth LeDrew, Linda See and Steffen Fritz
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Christoph Perger: Ecosystems Services and Management Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg 2361, Austria
Ellsworth LeDrew: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Linda See: Ecosystems Services and Management Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg 2361, Austria
Steffen Fritz: Ecosystems Services and Management Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg 2361, Austria

Future Internet, 2014, vol. 6, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Geo-Wiki is a crowdsourcing tool used to derive information, based on satellite imagery, to validate and enhance global land cover. Around 5000 users are registered, who contribute to different campaigns to collect data across various domains (e.g., agriculture, biomass, human impact, etc. ). However, seeing the Earth’s surface from above does not provide all of the necessary information for understanding what is happening on the ground. Instead, we need to enhance this experience with local knowledge or with additional information, such as geo-located photographs of surface features with annotation. The latest development in enhancing Geo-Wiki in this context has been achieved through collaboration with the University of Waterloo to set up a separate branch called Geography Geo-Wiki for use in undergraduate teaching. We provide the pedagogical objectives for this branch and describe two modules that we have introduced in first and third year Physical Geography classes. The majority of the feedback was positive and in, many cases, was part of what the student liked best about the course. Future plans include the development of additional assignments for the study of environmental processes using Geo-Wiki that would engage students in a manner that is very different from that of conventional teaching.

Keywords: crowdsourcing; Volunteered Geographic Information; land cover; Geo-tagged pictures; Climatology; Physical Geography; web based teaching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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