Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Why should we? The reasons to use GIS in the classroom
















Spatial Worlds website
Picture descriptions:
Left image: The sinking city of Venice.
Right image: Factory spewing forth in Milan, Italy.

Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'

Some research ideas
Increasingly people are talking about spatial literacy and the use of spatial technology in the classroom. A question often asked is, where is the research? Whilst there is a great need to expand the research on the nature of spatial literacy and the impact of spatial technology on student learning, there is literature around which has started the ‘ball rolling’ in looking at the empirical data and research in the area. This blog post list some of the current literature on the topic. Such documentation may be of use to the teacher trying to justify their pre-occupation with the area of spatial technology and literacy. While not a definitive list it may provide a start to putting together your own research paper on the topic to convince the powers to be to spend money on spatial technology in your school and to take this vital area of education seriously.

Just a few quotes to get started:

“Getting a new idea adopted, even when it has obvious advantages, is often very difficult… a common problem for many individuals and organizations is how to speed up the rate of diffusion of an innovation”
Everett Rogers, Diffusion of innovation, 1995

“GIS represents the single biggest contribution geographers have made to society and economy since the Age of Discovery”
Patrick Wiegand, School of Education, University of Leeds

“Spatial thinking is an increasingly important skill for living and working in the 21st century, the council said, and geographic information system (GIS) technology can help schools teach this skill to their students. Spatial literacy will play an increasingly important role in today's information-based economy, and it should be incorporated into K-12 instruction”
Learning to Think Spatially (www.nap.edu/ catalog/11019.html)

“Some educators consider GIS to be one of the most promising means for implementing education reform in US schools”
Dr Joseph Kerski : ‘The implementation and effectiveness of GIS Technology & methods in Secondary schools, 2001

Publications/articles/websites

* Baker Tom: The History and application of GIS in Education: http://kangis.org/learning/ed_docs/gisNed1.cfm
* Becta 2004; What the research says about ICT in geography; http://becta.org.uk/research
* Bednarz Sarah Witham, Associate Professor of Geography, Texas A&M University Learning to Think Spatially www.nap.edu/ catalog/11019.html
* Exploring common ground: The promise of GIS in education: http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/download/docs/xcg.pdf
* Geographical Association paper 2005: GIS in Geography teaching and learning: http://www.geography.org.uk/projects/gtip/thinkpieces/gis/
* GISAS: Geographical Information Systems applications for schools 2005: http://www.agile2006.hu/papers/a317.pdf
* Goodchild, Michael: Center for Geographic Information and Analysis and Department of Geography, University of California http://www.csiss.org/SPACE/about/docs/ArcNews_Goodchild-the-4th-R.pdf
* Kerski, Dr Joseph: ‘The implementation and effectiveness of GIS Technology and methods in Secondary schools, 2001
* Kerski: Joseph: A National Assessment of GIS in American High Schools 2001
* Rogers Everett: Diffusion of innovation 1995: http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata99.htm
* Wiegand, Patrick : School of Education, University of Leeds: Forum GIS in Education; http://www.multilingual-matters.net/irgee/010/0068/irgee0100068.pdf
* http://www.eastmidlandscetls.ac.uk/splint/
* http://edcommunity.esri.com/
* http://ednewsbytes.blogspot.com/2006/04/schools-urged-to-teach-spatial.html
* http://www.edb.gov.hk/
* http://www.ga.gov.au
* http://www.spatial-literacy.org
* http://www.scangis.org/scangis2003/papers/20.pdf
* http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~ocosta/betha.pdf
* http://www.myworldgis.org/docs/GISinEd_Workshop.pdf
* http://andorraweb.com/bass/

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