Apisphere, Inc., the company behind Geomate.jr (www.mygeomate.com), an easy to use GPS-based geocaching device, has teamed with SDG Creations, Ltd. to offer a GPS and geocaching-based curriculum written by a teacher for teachers called Educaching (www.educaching.com). The object of Educaching is to get teachers and students out of the classroom to experience a fun and active way to learn through geocaching, the worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasures.
“We are excited about our partnership with SDG Creations,” said Warren Hewerdine, co-inventor of Geomate.jr and Apisphere’s general manager. “This partnership means that together we can provide a complete learning solution for teachers that includes both a suitable GPS device as well as a corresponding curriculum. Every lesson plan spells out in detail the objectives covered, materials needed and step-by-step procedures to follow.”
Hewerdine said that because the Geomate.jr is extremely easy to use, teachers and students alike can focus on learning and not have to worry about how to use a complicated GPS device.
“We are delighted about our partnership with Apisphere,” said Jason Hubbard, teacher and author of the Educaching GPS based curriculum. “The curriculum combined with the Geomate.jr guides teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) based, GPS scavenger hunts that engage students in teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking and exercise in a fun learning environment,“ Hubbard added.
The Educaching curriculum includes the basics in GPS technology, teacher training and development, 20 out of the box lesson plans, student assessment sheets and additional hands-on after school activities using the Geomate.jr receivers.
“We know that safety is a high priority in schools,” said Hewerdine. “To address this, we have a feature called Custom Caches available. A Custom Cache allows teachers to create their own private geocaches giving them complete control over who has access to them.” He added that by using theapisphere.com website and a Geomate.jr Update Kit, teachers can load their own geocache locations into any Geomate.jr. No one else will have access to them. “That’s a very important security feature for schools,” Hewerdine said.
“The teaching manual contains lesson plans of varying skill levels,” Hewerdine explained. “The applicable standards covered are highlighted in each lesson plan and are specifically designed to assist teachers with fulfilling their district’s achievement requirements for students.” Sample lesson plans can be downloaded from either www.educaching.com or www.mygeomate.com, and both have agreed to offer educational discounts for school kit purchases.
