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Website Review of http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions Reviewed by: Alicia Hornish Website Description: Xpeditions is a website that allows users to enter a “museum” and then choose which topic they would like to explore further: the world in spatial terms, the uses of geography, physical systems, human systems, people and regions, and environment and society. Once inside the museum, the user chooses which aisle to venture down (a location map to the right of the interactive map shows the user’s location) to reach the topic they want to know more about. Each topic area presents different tasks to complete. These tasks are interactive and are valuable in understanding Xpedition’s overarching theme of learning about geography. Accuracy of Content: Xpedition covers many areas of geography and is accurate in its information. It aligns its content to National Geographic’s Standards, a set of eighteen standards they created to aid in geographic literacy; however it does not reference any other national or state educational standards. There are no gender or ethnic stereotypes present in this website. Technical Quality: This program is easy to use for those who may have worked with computers before, and are patient to take their time in reading the directions and step by step instructions to complete the various tasks. The topic area investigated for this review is “the world in spatial terms.” One of the activities is “Mental Mapping,” where mental topography at different age levels is illustrated. This activity shows the difference between a child’s mental map of their room, of driving to a place in their town and of the world; the same maps are then illustrated from an adult’s viewpoint. The exercise is useful, but there is a lack of direction as to where to click to retrieve the different images. Once the right area is clicked on the buttons, the different maps are shown. After this exercise is completed the Mental Mapper opens a new internet window that allows the user to send a message back to ‘dispatch’ about completing this activity. The user enters their email, the recipient’s email, and a message. This email task is user friendly as it is a familiar process. Use of Technology: This website is a worthwhile tool to supplement learning regarding the six topic areas. While participating in each topic’s tasks, the program lists information that is useful to the map being viewed. Many of the maps are interactive. For example, if a class studies different religions, one of the maps allows the user to scroll over the listed religion names and the map displays the area(s) in the world where the religion is practiced. At the conclusion of all activities in each topic, a postcard pops open to be filled out and can be sent to the teacher. The drawback discovered about this postcard is that the user can click the window closed; if the user does, the program does not prevent him/her from continuing on in the program. However, a teacher can require the postcard to be sent to him/her as part of the student’s assessment and feedback on the activity. This program could also be completed in groups, but it appears that individual use of Xpedition would be most beneficial as there are many choices for the tasks to quickly complete. The topic reviewed from this website did not provide any printouts or creation of a project which does not aid the student if they need to reference this activity, or if they want to use this program as a source for a future project. Role of Students: Students should be able to navigate this site without many problems; however, they are limited by how they can move within the program. There are six topics to investigate and nothing else beyond that. The tasks are the same at each topic, which can become redundant for the user. The site is constrictive because it does not support group work or problem solving skills. The only resulting product that is created after task completion is a virtual postcard to a recipient of the user’s choice. There is no evaluation of the user’s progress. Students may initially be confused as to the navigation technique of the program, but then after trial and error they could continue on. However, trial and error can cause frustration and could lead to disengagement. Role of Teacher: Xpedition is best geared for individual use, and that places an amount of pressure on the teacher to monitor her class as they use the program. The site does not produce a report on the user’s progress in educational terms; it only sends the teacher a virtual postcard the user completed. There is no way to save the information worked on by the user to date, so the user must be diligent in recording the topic areas and tasks already completed. Teachers could use parts of the site (i.e.: different map styles such as Magellan, polar, etc.) as a tool required within another class project. This site is complementary to material already covered in class; it will provide a different approach to view the information already learned. Teachers could benefit by briefing the students on the control features of this museum’: user energy would focus on getting through the numerous tasks, and is not wasted on trying to discover how to click and run the site features. Classroom Usage: This site is a supplementary program to education on maps, worldwide population information (i.e., where certain religions are dominant), and elements of the Earth. Total access to Xpedition is acceptable as there are enough tasks to keep them focused on completing the program. Xpedition may be useful for one or two class periods at most; that should be sufficient time for all users to complete all the tasks. The teacher can model this program to show the whole class the features of the site. Critical Summary: Xpedition investigates geography, but is intended for fun fact finding and is best used on an individual basis. This site may be used by a teacher to include as an extra credit assignment instead of the main program to run a lesson from. Xpedition is a complementary site for curriculum involving any of the six main topic areas it covers. The graphic quality is excellent and it contains tasks that are visually appealing to middle and high school students. The tasks are fun and interactive for the user, but are more of an added bonus to lessons and curriculum; a teacher would not use this website as a primary reference. Teachers may also find it interesting to have their students use this site, review it and write a critique to see what their feedback is as users. Overall Rating (1 to10): 6 Explanation of Rating: This site is a useful tool for reinforcing knowledge already learned in the classroom, or even is useful as a task to complete within a project. As there is no cost to use this site so may be useful for teachers in districts where other software may not be available. This site is not modified for different learning levels, nor can the user choose a difficulty level. I would not mind recommending this site to a teacher to review, but would not consider this website an absolute requirement for any lesson plan.
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© Alicia Hornish | Last Updated: April 23, 2008 | Email: ahornish@sjc.edu