Welcome to the International Cartographic Association
Welcome to the website of the International Cartographic AssociationGet to know the new ICA Executive Committee for the term 2023-2027
Welcome to the website of the International Cartographic Association
Get to know the new ICA Executive Committee for the term 2023-2027

Map of the Month 3/2013: Columbus E-Learning

At the 25th International Cartography Conference in Paris, France, the “Columbus” e-learning software won the second jury’s prize in the category Educational Cartographic Resources. The jury stated:

Fine example of user-centred design of a product for primary and secondary school children.

Publisher’s Description: Columbus is a very intuitive and easy-to-use e-learning package for teaching younger students geography. The wide variety of interactive exercises can be used in the classroom with a projector, on an interactive whiteboard or even directly in the pupils own computer. Blank outline maps and exercises can also be printed out. Pupils can work individually or as a group, providing the teacher with ample opportunity to vary and adapt the teaching to individual pupil’s needs and capacity. It is easy to get started with Columbus. All the symbols and menus are clear and intuitive. By clicking on a symbol icon one can navigate backwards and forwards through the exercises and discover more and more possibilities. Based on maps of Sweden, Europe and the World, the interactive exercises are divided into sections covering different map themes, flags, names and puzzles. Furthermore, there are quizzes to test how much the pupils have learnt and basic map knowledge, explaining for example, scale, compass points, grids and how a map is built up. All these exercises are supported by a comprehensive teacher guidance section, including a separate pdf file with suggestions for lessons and teaching methods. The licence for using Columbus is sold per school, where the price is based on the number of pupils enrolled in the 3 upper years of primary school.

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