Humanities and Social Sciences · Year 9

Active learning ideas

Impact of Tourism on Places

Active learning works for this topic because it helps students move beyond abstract ideas about digital connectivity into concrete, personal experiences. By engaging with mapping, discussion, and analysis, students connect global concepts to their own digital lives and the places they know.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9G9K04

• 25–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Individual

Collaborative Mapping: My Digital Footprint

Students map where the servers, companies, and people they interact with online are located. They discuss how many 'borders' they cross in a single day of internet use.

Analyze the economic benefits and drawbacks of tourism for local communities.

Facilitation Tip

For Collaborative Mapping: My Digital Footprint, provide students with colored markers and printed maps to trace their digital connections physically, which helps visual learners grasp the scale of global reach.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are a tourism planner for a newly discovered, pristine island. What are the top three economic benefits you would aim for, and what are the top three potential negative impacts you would actively seek to prevent?' Facilitate a class discussion where students share their ideas and justify their choices.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Power of a Hashtag

Students research a global social movement that started online (e.g., #BlackLivesMatter or #ClimateStrike). They discuss in pairs how social media helped the movement grow.

Explain the cultural exchange and potential conflicts arising from tourism.

Facilitation Tip

For Think-Pair-Share: The Power of a Hashtag, circulate the room during pair discussions to listen for nuanced examples of digital activism or tourism promotion.

What to look for

Provide students with a short case study of a real-world tourism destination (e.g., Venice, Bali, Machu Picchu). Ask them to identify and list one positive economic impact, one negative social impact, and one environmental challenge associated with tourism in that location.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Pairs

Gallery Walk: The Digital Divide

Display maps and data showing internet access around the world. Students move in pairs to identify which regions are 'connected' and which are 'left behind', and discuss the consequences.

Assess the environmental footprint of mass tourism and strategies for sustainable tourism.

Facilitation Tip

For Gallery Walk: The Digital Divide, place the most striking images or headlines at the middle stations to draw students in and prompt immediate reactions before they move deeper into the content.

What to look for

On a small card, ask students to write down one strategy for making tourism more sustainable in a popular destination and one example of how tourism can lead to cultural exchange.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by grounding discussions in real-world examples and students' lived experiences. Avoid abstract lectures about 'the digital world'—instead, use case studies, student-generated data, and current events to make connections tangible. Research shows that students retain more when they connect digital concepts to local or personal contexts, so start with students' own online habits before expanding to global examples.

Students will demonstrate understanding by mapping their own digital connections, analyzing real-world case studies, and discussing both the benefits and drawbacks of digital tourism impacts. Success looks like thoughtful participation, accurate identification of economic, social, and environmental effects, and evidence-based justification of their views.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Collaborative Mapping: My Digital Footprint, watch for students assuming their own internet access represents global access.

  Use the mapping activity to highlight gaps by having students compare their digital footprint maps with global connectivity maps, then discuss why some regions show little or no digital activity.

• During Think-Pair-Share: The Power of a Hashtag, watch for students dismissing digital connections as less meaningful than face-to-face interactions.

  After pairs share examples, ask them to categorize their examples into 'support,' 'information,' and 'political action' to show how digital connections lead to real-world consequences.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk
• Think-Pair-Share