BEING REVIEWED - This study asks whether it is possible to integrate GIS and ICT into classroom activities to enhance current secondary school geography. To do so, the study discusses the particularities of GIS, its requirements in terms...
moreBEING REVIEWED - This study asks whether it is possible to integrate GIS and ICT into classroom activities to enhance current secondary school geography. To do so, the study discusses the particularities of GIS, its requirements in terms of software, hardware and data. It then presents the enhancements a GIS may offer in terms of functionality to the teaching and learning experience.
The study then sheds light on the educational benefits the use of GIS may bring to the contemporary learner, especially when higher-order analysis and research skills are required by an educational activity or project.
The discussion on frameworks closes with a review of select GIS and ICT applications and services assessed appropriate for use in a scholar environment. These items include online WebGIS such as those provided by Diercke and Klett, but also discusses offline GIS packages like Cartes et Données and QGIS.
Parts three and four of the study aim at fulfilling the goal of enhancing school geography through GIS and ICT by featuring tested classroom activities. The latter have been conducted in 5e and 4e ES and are divided in short-term and long-term tasks. Ready-to-use worksheets accompany introductory activity summaries and reviews are provided when needed.
Part four describes and analyses a long-term project, built upon a real world dataset provided by the mapping community of Kibera, a slum in Kenya. Students worked on the dataset setting individual research goals based on the data provided by the mappers (e.g.: school distribution, safety hazards and medical facilities). Research results were rendered as maps and assembled in posters featuring comments established by the students. This part also features generic GIS tutorials, suitable for many learning opportunities making use of GIS analysis functions.
Research outcomes of this study are teaching materials including datasets and worksheets, ready-to-use in 5e and 4e ES. Additionally, the final part concludes on the fact that given the right working environment GIS and ICT is able to enhance school geography in a meaningful way. Part 5 closes hinting at the ways in which GIS and ICT might further enhance Luxembourg’s secondary geography."""
