France: Dogmatic innovations, innovative teachers, and parallel experimentations

Abstract

This chapter aims at drawing a portrait of the use of geotechnologies in secondary schools in France. We first describe the context of the integration of these technologies into the curriculum. This context depends on the organization of the educational system and on the history of the integration of remote sensing and digital cartography into French secondary schools. In this first part of the paper, we address the question of the influence of this context on GIS integration. Second, we give a short overview of the uses of geotechnologies by secondary teachers based on the results of a survey and a case description. This leads us to address the question of the potential of geotechnologies for teaching and learning. Third, we discuss the prospects for the development of the use of these technologies for educational purposes in France and formulate recommendations for policy makers to foster this development.