Geographical Information Systems and Geography Teaching

Abstract

The growing popularisation of spatial tools all point to a growing need for spatial perspective. Recent international publications in the field of geography in education state that Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are an important tool to promote spatial literacy. In secondary education, there is a slowly growing interest in GIS. Besides differences, the developments in this field in the different countries also show many similarities. This contribution shows that many studies of GIS use in educational situations are enthusiastic descriptions of experiences, but that research on the contribution of GIS to education is scarce. Teacher training in learning about GIS and learning with GIS is necessary to enhance students’ “learning to think” capacity. Interactive learning about topics as urbanization, land use, water, security and logistics can be visualized much better than before with modern spatial technology provided there are capable teachers.