Using WebGIS and Making Students Geographic Educational YouTubers in COVID-19 Pandemics

Abstract:

In order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19, many universities and other institutions are offering online classes. In this presentation, I report a case study in which students created geography videos for elementary and junior high school students in the courses "Introduction to Geography" and "Geography Experiments" in the School of Education, and made them available on the official YouTube channel of the university. The aim of this project is to help students and video viewers alike realize the usefulness of geography through "independent, interactive and deep learning" and "openness to society" as described in Japan's new National Curriculm Standards.

Specifically, I gave the students access to WebGIS services in Japan and asked them to write about what they were able to do and what was difficult for them to do. Then, in the online class, I taught them the intent, history, and treatment of those offerings. Students were then given the opportunity to create "geographic learning content that would make someone happy" as needed. Students were instructed from time to time on how to handle copyright and personal information, as well as appropriate map and regional representation. Uploading and publicity for the university was done by the administrative office's public relations staff, and classes were launched on their own social networking sites. Information on browsing trends and comments on each work were fed back to all students as needed to improve the quality of their works.

As a result, students used the content and skills they learned online to create digital materials that drew on their own subjects of interest. They then studied each other online. This socially-engaged approach shows one potential for online classes, which tend to be less interactive.