Papua New Guinea By Sea-kayak… a World First Expedition
MEDIA RELEASE: Tasmanian teacher and adventurer Andrew Hughes has today announced a 4,000 kilometre sea-kayak expedition around Papua New Guinea. Beginning by paddling over 800 kilometres down the remote Fly River, Hughes will continue to the capital Port Moresby and Milne Bay before embarking on long stretches of isolation to the northern border with Irian Jaya. The journey, beamed live on the internet through www.expeditionclass.com, is expected to take six months, starting in May next year.
“It’s going to be a massive adventure. The idea is to get students engaged in the journey by following it in real time via the website. Once they’re tuned in and switched on, their teachers can use the lesson plans we’ve developed. It’s just a sneaky way of getting students motivated to learn. If it means I have to go paddling around a tropical wonderland to do it, well so be it.”
Hughes is no stranger to long distance sea kayaking. In 2006 he paddled nearly 5000 kilometres from Hobart to Thursday Island, crossing Bass Strait and tackling the remote Cape York along the way. That journey was broadcast through a blog. The interest it generated amongst schools has given him the confidence to predict that adventure learning has a bright future in the classroom.
“New technologies are always presenting opportunities to extend the bounds of the traditional classroom. I guess it comes down to a simple ‘why not’. Why not have a go at grabbing students attention, why not try to make school more real, why not give teachers something they can actually use?”
Skeers Jerrim have partnered with Expeditionclass.com to produce the website that will document the journey in real time and be a learning resource at the same time. Peter Jerrim says;
“It’s been a delightful challenge to build this site. The novel nature of the project meant we needed a novel approach to making it work. I think it opens new doors for teachers and adventure loving people in general. We’re excited to be involved.”
For more information go to http://www.expeditionclass.com/
You can support Andrew and his expedition by purchasing one of his Limited Edition T-Shirts. Visit http://www.expeditionclass.com/t-shirt/