Διδάσκοντας γεωγραφικές συντεταγμένες μέσα από το σκάκι. Εκπαιδευτικό σενάριο της πλατφόρμας e-lios. Teaching geographic coordinates through chess. Educational scenario under the E-Lios platform abilities.

Abstract

In this paper, we present an educational scenario of teaching the geographical coordinates through a chess game, as this results from the use of the E-LIOS electronic learning platform. Considering: (a) the extensive use of computers and the Internet in education in recent years, (b) the existence of a large number of distance learning courses, (c) the necessity to use more and more educational web platforms in daily teaching practice and (d) the need for a pedagogical practice that enhances the development of research spirit, critical thinking and creativity, we have come to the creation of the following teaching scenario. In order to create this scenario, we have used the E-lios online learning platform following the core axes of Exploratory Learning, Group Collaboration and Transformational Learning.

More specifically, the first part of the article focuses on the potential of ICT and its use in schools by both students and teachers. Reference is made to the need of communication between pupils and teachers in out-of-school hours, which can be achieved through the use of specific educational platforms, containing educational material. It also connects distance learning with the use of an educational platform, where it is presented as an alternative way of distance learning without the need for physical presence in a classroom. The importance of exploratory learning and teaching and how much they can contribute to promoting students' skills and competences, is emphasized. Such learning, in conjunction with exploratory activities, can enhance active participation and student engagement. According to Jaworski (2006), Exploratory Learning in mathematics teaching, such as geographical coordinates, supports and encourages the acquisition of knowledge through exploration, with properly structured activities and problems within the classroom. Exploratory Learning is seen as a multifaceted teaching and learning culture that sees the central process of research as learning, but also emphasizes that students create meanings, learning takes space in a social context and is supported by substantive contexts, namely learning is an interactive process (see Cunningham & Helms, 1998; Duit & Treagust, 1998; Mortimer & Scott, 2003, reference to Artigue & Blomhøj, 2013). It is therefore perceived that it is very important for students to have an incentive to learn and to create. It also emphasizes the need for a renewed pedagogy in schools, to enable pupils to master rational dialogue and critical thinking. Transformational Learning is an effective didactic strategy, the steps of which (transforming stereotyped dysfunctional views) gradually lead to the transformation of problematic mental habits and the conquest of the past.

The second part of the article then analyses the structure of the E-LIOS platform and the process required by the teacher to design a training scenario. Emphasis is placed on the possibility of communicating its various parts within the same web-platform, which offers unlimited possibilities and creative flexibility. The innovation of this platform lies in the fact that it provides a structured framework, where a teacher can follow appropriate steps of a navigation guide and create an educational scenario based on the exploratory learning principles. Also important is the fact that it supports mobile learning, learning through multiple digital environments and through social interactions with the use of personal electronic devices (mobile phones, tablets, laptops and computers) (Crompton, 2013). The third part of the article refers to the proposed teaching scenario and its educational activities. Emphasis is placed on the necessity of an experiential approach to learning. In this context, the game involves the active participation of students in the proposed activities as they entertain and simultaneously experience different roles, experiment, express their feelings and think ways to deal with difficulties in specific situations. The combination of play and knowledge is a pedagogical practice that favours the development of research spirit, critical thinking and creativity.

It is therefore suggested that students of Gymnasium teaching geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) should be taught based on the steps we take with the chess pieces on a chessboard. This educational scenario incorporates personal chess game experiences, mathematical concepts associated with level coordinates and experiential learning. Finally, it highlights the importance of learning through play, as well as the pedagogical value of a structured sequence of educational scenario steps. In conclusion, by teaching the geographical coordinates, through chess we managed to convey knowledge in a playful way. Transformational learning had a predominant role in our educational scenario, initially because the accumulated experience of chess-student pupils was imprinted in every game, but at the same time the integration of mathematics - coordinate determination, revealed to students that Cartesian systems had a strong functional reason of existence. In fact, it is clear from our educational scenario that it was imperative that the definition of bi-orthogonal Cartesian coordinate systems was imperative and did not result from abstract mathematical calculations. Sensory experiences of pupils playing chess are transformed through the axes of transformational learning into real knowledge that multiplies students' thought and judgment toward understanding the necessities of concepts and definitions in Natural Sciences. In addition, Mezirow, J. (2009: 132) states that "the two main components of Transformational Learning are firstly the critical thinking, namely the critical assessment of the stimuli we accept, and second, the voluntary and full participation in a dialectical dialogue to establish the best possible knowledge. Reflection concepts and critical rational dialogue are interactive and collaborative components of Transformational Learning. During a chess match, students make unconscious mathematical calculations in a bi-rectangular axle system. We have attempted to reverse this process: To turn the unconscious - empirical movements on the chessboard into geometric knowledge! This way, one process involves the other (Lintzeris, 2007), our play is experiential-empirical, but our experience is transformed and reveals the hidden knowledge, in order to conceal its mathematical knowledge and its unmistakable functionality.