End of the Field? Hacking Online and Hybrid Environments for Field-Based Learning in Geography Education

Abstract

Increased liability, limited resources, and global pandemics reduce opportunities for field-based learning and accelerate transition to online education across grade levels and geographic contexts. Conventional expectations about teaching through fieldwork (i.e., in-person, led by the instructor) no longer encompass geography as a field discipline. Prospects for field-based learning diversify as technologies make “out there” available “right here” and as online courses grant students agency to engage with and redefine the field. This essay presents those possibilities and describes online modes of deploying and assessing field-based learning.

Keywords:

• Field-based learning
• guerrilla geography
• fieldwork
• participatory mapping
• Web 2.0

Notes

1 For the most part, literature on field-based learning is lopsided toward higher education environments. We argue that ideas from these resources contain transferable qualities for K-12 geography teachers who wish to build a stronger relationship between online education and field-based learning. Furthermore, many of the ideas discussed in this paper are transferable to face-to-face environments.