INTRODUCTION

Technology is an integral and growing part of daily living in the twenty-first century. The challenge, then, for teachers, is to use technology effectively in classrooms to help students take ownership for learning and develop the practical and critical thinking skills necessary to better understand the world around them. To meet this challenge, teachers can use an emerging technology tool, GPS receivers, and an emerging GPS-based activity, geocaching, to transform their middle school classrooms from teacher-centered environments to exciting, empowering, exploratory environments that focus on student engagement in the learning process.As the world becomes more connected, managed, and observed through the use of computers and other …show more content…
GPS units are multidisciplinary, inquiry-driven, field-based tools useful across the K-12 and university curricula.In this article, I provide a professional development model for teachers learning to use GPS units and geocaching. This model, which is equally applicable with middle school students, incorporates the characteristics of active, engaged learning and constructivist learning environments. I also provide (1) descriptions of three other GPS/geocaching workshops for a variety of audiences, (2) comments from teachers about their experiences learning to use GPS receivers and geocaching, (3) numerous online resources, and (4) concrete steps to create integrated curricular units/lessons that use GPS units and geocaching for teachers wishing to incorporate these emerging technologies to spark student learning and raise student awareness of the world around them. Finally, I provide a podcast (that can be viewed on the Internet or heard on an iPod) that gives an overview of using GPS receivers and geocaching in …show more content…
Handheld GPS receivers are carried by hikers, surveyors, map makers, and others who need to know where they are. The GPS device receives data from the closest satellites to determine the unit's exact location, elevation, speed, and time. Inexpensive GPS receivers available to civilians are as accurate as those used by the military today. Currently, there are millions of civilian users of GPS and GPS receivers worldwide. A GPS receiver communicates with GPS satellites to provide information to its user. A standard GPS receiver will place the user's location on a map at any given location using latitude and longitude coordinates. It will also trace the user's path from one location to another. With this information and its built-in clock, the receiver can give the user the following