Map Storytelling Through Sonification: Turning Geospatial Data into Sound

Having accepted the agreement and the proposal, the Learner receives a motivational and symbolic message from the Tutor, Teacher or Allies. This message can arrive digitally, through audio, video, text or other media, and briefly presents the challenges that are supposed to be overcome during the course/journey, applications of the subject’s content to real life and a brief presentation of the technologies and tools that will be used during the course.

Accept the call to explore the intersection of geography, data, sound and technology. Read the learning pathway, understand what you will create, and identify why a sonified map could help communicate an issue that affects communities or the planet. You can register on the GeoAcademy Portal and forum to share your questions and interact with people from other countries. Feel free to invite others to also take the course (https://heroicjourneys.life/courses/map-storytelling-through-sonification-turning-geospatial-data-into-sound/). In addition, there are many other resources available on the GeoAcademy Project that can help you build your knowledge base . Learn more about the GeoAcademy Project .

It is time for the Learner to receive some external aid from the content experts (Tutor; Teacher; Allies), as well as motivational help that gives the support needed for enduring the journey. For instance, if the female student is afraid of male judgments about her present and future performance, and faces various cultural barriers and/or rejections based on gender bias, this is the time to challenge these misconceptions. In order to successfully overcome this step, several female role models in STEM will be presented to the Learner.

Reflect on your current confidence with maps, datasets, sound and coding, and identify the support that will help you progress. Form a supportive learning environment in which asking questions, experimenting and collaborating are signs of strength. If you want to get to know yourself better, you can take a personality test on some online platform. Here's a suggestion, or another.

Learning content, new platform(s) and technological environments are now part of the Learner’s life. This is definitely a time of great effort, so she shall face and overcome the storm with all the commitment of a true heroine. The Learner must engage in theory studies, in order to overcome their initial difficulties.

Prepare for the first technical difficulties by organising your time, materials and tools. Access the required platform or hardware, test basic operations, and treat errors as information that guides your next attempt. If you don't have a micro:bit, you can simulate it on the makecode platform.

By now the Learner is probably no longer afraid of engaging with STEM content. She has gained self-confidence, met the basic theories, she has gained a voice by posting comments on forums and by engaging in specific collaboration tasks. When someone tells her that she has no special skill for coding, performing calculations, analysing data, or designing tools and applications, the Learner says, ”Yes, I can do it!”.

Explores videos and texts with tips and suggestions, watches videos / interviews with reference persons in the field of studies, visits companies in person or digitally. Turn uncertainty into a researchable idea. Choose a meaningful dataset or indicator, define a question about its spatial or temporal patterns, and formulate a hypothesis about how sound might reveal or communicate those patterns.

Considered as one of the most important stages, as it unfolds, the Learner needs to understand her role in this new world. Yes, the Learner has entered into a new world! As of right now, coding, manipulating mathematical formulas and concepts and establishing relationships between them is something that the Learner is used to. All this knowledge allows her to create new projects and get involved in STEM activities.

Acquire the knowledge needed to transform geospatial data into a sound design. Select a reliable dataset, identify variables and units, and plan how pitch, rhythm, volume, duration or instrument will represent values and changes.

This step requires the Learner to put everything she has learned so far into practice. The Learner went through the STEM course basis and feels strong enough to proceed with her studies. The Learner also deals with algorithms and mathematical formulas for conducting data analysis or other important applications in the fields of STEM.

Put your plan into practice with guidance from Athena, the figure of wisdom in your journey. Build a first prototype, listen critically to its output and use evidence rather than fear to decide what should be changed. Make presentations, group tasks, individual projects, quizzes, questionnaires, viewing solved exercises.

What does the Learner get from their journey? She acquires self-confidence, a self-regulation method for learning. At the same time, she becomes proficient and, by herself, is able to propose technological artefacts, discover new connections between mathematical formulas and visualisations. For example, she produces new simulations, proposes innovative solutions and shares them on the course platform or on public repositories(Learner). The time for the big challenge is coming, and the Learner needs to get ready, get organised and prepared for the next step.

Face the demanding part of the project by implementing, testing and revising your sonification. Use micro:bit or another selected tool to produce an audible representation of data and document the decisions, trials and corrections that made it work

The Learner is now about to face her big journey’s challenge or final assessment, but she is well prepared for the final clash of deliveries in this course. She feels confident to present the project and complete the final exam. The Learner has everything she needs to successfully overcome the final evaluation prepared by the Teacher/Tutor.

Demonstrate the skills acquired in the journey. Finalise a sonified map or data composition, justify the relation between data and sound, and complete the course assessment as evidence of your technical and interpretive progress.

The Learner, who has faced great challenges and enemies, now receives the well deserved prize for all her efforts. It is time to have access to the final grade and report evaluations of the course. Also, with all her practice and acquired new skills, the Learner is qualified to successfully proceed with her STEM studies.

Reflect on your progress and regulate your future learning. Analyse how your initial hypothesis changed, what strategies supported your work, and how you can continue developing skills in geospatial data, coding, sonification and scientific communication.

In this step, the Learner gets aware of the full process of becoming a true heroine. This step permits the Learner to realise how she can earn the status of Learner Heroine.

Re-enter the learning community with a transformed perspective. Share your sonified map, explain the social or environmental story behind it, and contribute constructively to the interpretation of other learners’ projects

So, what is the latest challenge? How does the Learner become a Heroine? Where and how will she share her knowledge? What will happen to the learner now? Only true Learner Heroines are able to complete this last step

Complete the journey by recognising your acquired skills and considering how you can encourage others to explore STEM creatively and confidently. Receive acknowledgement for your work and offer a message, resource or example that may support a future learner.