World Regions Lab Beta Student Guide
Start from where you are
World Regions Lab helps you learn where places are, how they connect, and how maps shape the questions we ask. You can begin without prior map knowledge. This is a beta, so keep a progress backup and tell your instructor if something gets in your way.
Your first visit
- Open https://yoavduman.com/lab/world-regions-lab and choose Open full app. Use this version when your instructor gives you a class code or you want cloud saving.
- If you have a class code, open My work, enter the eight-character code, and select Join assignment. Read the assignment title, required levels and directions. Joining does not send your work.
- Choose Find my starting point for an untimed 15-question check, or Show me first for a guided start at Level 1. The warm-up lets you try selecting a country before the check begins.
- Use I don't know yet when you need teaching. Skip leaves a question unassessed. Optional confidence does not change your suggested level. Explanations appear after the check.
- Open Levels and choose Learn on your assigned level. Read the map notes, try supported practice, and finish the checkpoint. You can pause where offered and return through Resume.
Know what the buttons mean
Learn includes teaching and a checkpoint. Check goes straight to an independent checkpoint and does not mark the teaching sequence complete. Placement suggests a beginning; your instructor's assignment still applies. You can revisit an earlier level whenever you need it.
What counts as progress
A level stamp shows that you completed the teaching sequence. An activity record shows what you answered on your own and where you used help. You do not need a perfect checkpoint to keep the completion stamp. Read the explanations and use them for your next attempt.
Levels 1 through 3 cover the basic class foundation. Levels 4 through 9 add regional detail, routes, social data, critical map reading, history, and a map you can defend. Take the next step your instructor assigns, or explore a continuation when you want to.
Save work you can return to
The full app saves automatically to your private workspace. In My work, select Save now and read the save status before leaving. Guest progress belongs to the same browser. A different browser, private browsing session, cleared cookie, or different device may open a different guest workspace.
Sign in with ChatGPT to use an account workspace across devices. To move existing guest work, first choose Back up progress. Sign in, then use Import backup to load that work into the account workspace. Import replaces current work after you confirm; save a backup first if you need to keep both versions.
Use Pause and save where it is offered. Some short interactive labs restart their controls when reopened, so finish those before leaving. Completed activity records stay in My work. If cloud saving is unavailable, export a backup before closing the tab and try Try saving online again later.
Send a report with a class code
- In My work, enter the name or course identifier your instructor asks you to use. Check that you joined the correct assignment.
- Sign in before submitting through a class code. Back up existing guest work first and import it into your account if needed. Choose Preview & submit progress report. The preview summarizes completed levels, placement, the latest 20 activity records and a paused activity if one is saved.
- Choose whether to include written reflections. With this option off, historical reflections and map defense drafts stay private.
- Select Submit to instructor and wait for confirmation. Saving and joining alone do not submit the report. You can also use Preview & submit this record for one finished activity if your instructor requests it.
Send a report as a file
Choose Download report in My work. It creates an HTML report. Open it in a browser and use Print / save PDF if your instructor wants a PDF. Upload the file in your LMS following the course instructions. A progress backup in JSON restores your workspace; it is different from the report your instructor reads.
Choose what you share
The assignment's publisher receives the report you choose to send. Other students do not get access to your private workspace. Withdraw latest report removes the latest stored full report when that button is available; instructor downloads and older submissions may remain. Ask your instructor about those copies. Clear my private workspace removes your private work, so back it up first.
Explore when you want another connection
| Open | Try this |
|---|---|
| Atlas | Search for a country, examine neighbors, compare regions, and turn on the selected course capitals. |
| Map games | Practice country locations, regions, capitals and border neighbors in short sessions. |
| Put the map back | Recover where Alaska and Hawaii belong beyond a page's inset boxes. |
| Route and data labs | Explore a fictional route or change a population denominator. Their scenarios are models, not travel advice or reported social statistics. |
| Projection lab | Compare Equal Earth and Mercator to see how a representation changes what looks large. |
| Historical investigations | Read sources on decolonization, partition, Atlantic empires, or Israel and Palestine, then write a reflection. |
| Map studio | Choose places, make a claim, name the evidence and limits, and revise your map argument. |
| Due review | Return on another day for a short review when items become due. |
Make the lab comfortable
Preferences offer reduced motion, optional sound and read-aloud where your browser supports it. Country buttons and a text relationship route can help when clicking an outline is difficult. Use keyboard navigation or enlarge browser text. Tell your instructor if you use a different interaction mode for an assessed task.
Read maps with their limits in view
The atlas is a generalized modern map. Regional names can have more than one definition, and a modern locator is not a map of historical boundaries. In an investigation, check the date and source before deciding what a map or document can tell you. Written viewpoints are not automatically graded.
If something does not work
Check that you opened the full app for a class code, that the assignment code is correct, and that My work shows the save or submission confirmation. If your progress looks missing, return to the same browser or signed-in account. Keep a backup while resolving a problem. Tell your instructor the activity, device, browser and what happened; avoid sending private information in a public screenshot.
The device-only practice version on the resource page has local saving and downloadable reports, but no cloud class inbox. Its work does not automatically move into the full app. Use a backup if you need to transfer it. You can stop after a finished activity; there is no lost streak or public ranking.