Next Generation Paper for Geography Education

• Project Team: George RevillBenjamin NewmanSonja Rewhorn
• Subject Discipline: Social Sciences and Global Studies
• Theme: Online and blended tuition
• Project Aim: Enables more students to achieve their study goalsImproves and enhance the learning experience of students
• Status: Live
• Date: September 2022 to August 2023

Next Generation Paper (NGP) is a technology that blends paper-based and web-based materials using a freely downloadable phone app with page recognition that was developed as part of a 36-month ESRPC-funded project between the University of Surrey and OU. NGP’s page recognition technology directs readers to digital resources from a printed text enabling further and interactive engagment with the topic in question. Moreover, NGP enables online materials to be flexible resources that can be added, deleted and changed readily, making this blend between print and digital spaces, adaptive, and based on real-time engagements and conversations.

This pilot project brings together colleagues from across the geography disicpline at the OU to develop a follow-on project which explores the potential of NGP technologies in the context of geography education. To trial the effectiveness of NGP technologies in the teaching of geogrpahy, we will create, test, and evaluate a small tranche of learning materials inspired by our new flagship undergraduate geography and environment modules at level 2. These materials will act as a bridge with other new provision at level 3 to prepare students, ensure rentention, and enhance progression. In demonstrating the potential of developing geography’s teaching and learning by engaging with NGP technologies, this pilot project will inform a substantial OU-led external funding bid run jointly with Surrey colleagues.

NGP has the potential to both inspire students and ensure access and participation within geography, particularly in the case of its core elements such as fieldwork. This project and subsequent bid will extend the capacity and reach of NGP within geography education at different educational levels by working with academic, educational, and professional partners to realise its potential.

In sum, over the course of this project we intend to:

• Develop and trial bridging material between Level 2 and Level 3 using NGP technologies to support students undertaking the new BA (Hons) Geography degree at the OU.
• Gather feedback via a series of workshops that enhance our understanding of the educational potentials of NGP technology and areas of technical development that need to be addressed to create a practical and robust system that can be deployed publicly in educational and/or commercial settings.
• Provide evidence of capability necessary for engaging project partners and engage in collaboration to shape the follow on research proposal
• Develop a review of literature of similar technologies and pedagogies