Learn how CHARM-EU uses a mobile geo-location app for active learning with its students.
Situated learning, one of the CHARM-EU educational principles, is where students learn through social interaction in authentic, realistic contexts. Walking through a city or field trip location and observing its culture, nature, and infrastructure can transform how students understand global challenges. However, creating meaningful field-based learning activities can be time consuming and difficult to organize.
To support active, situated learning for its students, CHARM-EU uses the Peek App, an interactive, map-based mobile tool that guides students through real environments and prompts them to explore, reflect, and collaborate. The Peek App allows students to discover a new city during a mobility, complement learning during field trips, and engage directly with knowledge related to sustainability challenges in an engaging way. CHARM-EU teachers and students have used the Peek App during mobility weeks, excursions, and classroom fieldwork, including an award-winning learning experience in Balaruc-les-Bains, France
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Learning through exploration
The Peek App activity is designed to place learning directly in real environments cities, villages, campuses, parks, or museums. Teachers create the activity directly in the Peek App platform, and students use their phones to access the app, where a digital map with location points is presented. At each point, a task appears on their screen, a question, a prompt to discuss, a photo entry, or an invitation to observe and reflect. The Peek trip is not only focused on learning but can help team building and collaboration between students.
Where has the Peek app been used in CHARM-EU?
CHARM-EU has used the Peek app extensively in its MSc in Global Challenges for Sustainability, and within institutional specific contexts including:
- MOXMO: An award winning sustainable tour around Balaruc-les-Bains in order to help students discover their surroundings and the connections with sustainability of a place new to most of them.
- Trinity College Transdisciplinary Field Trip, Dublin, Ireland: A tour in Trinity College Dublin where students learn about key transdisciplinary projects located on campus.
- Collserola Natural Park, Barcelona, Spain: Students visted Collesrola Natural Park as part of the MSc in Global Challenges for Sustainability Food Module.
- Szeged, Hungary:Students were introduced to sustainable cereal production on a farm as part of the MSc in Global Challenges for Sustainability Food Module.
- Utrecht, The Netherlands: Students visited urban gardening projects as part of their MSc in Global Challenges for Sustainability.
- Welcome to CHARM-EU: All CHARM-EU universities have created a Peek app field trip for students starting their studies in a new location.
SOMETHING FOR YOU TOO? CHECK OUT THESE RESOURCES!
- Learn how an interactive map can enhance interculturality in learning.
- Read this presentation on „Empowering Education with Geolocalized App
on the use of PeekApp in CHARM-EU master program” - Interested in trying out the Peek App? Contact Vanessa Vigano at vanessa.vigano@umontpellier.fr.
