Geographical Information Systems in Education: a socio-cultural review

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Geographical Information Systems in Education a
socio-cultural review

• Tino Johansson, Department of Geography
• University of Helsinki, Finland

Fe-ConE workshop, Vilnius, Lithuania 11 October
2007
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Contents of the presentation

• Introduction to Geographical Information Systems
• Educational objectives of the GISAS project
• Arc Internet Map Server (ArcIMS) as a learning
  tool
• Socio-cultural considerations

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Introduction to Geographical Information Systems
(GIS)

• Geographical Information Systems are computerized
  systems for managing, storing, visualizing and
  analysing spatial information
• Spatial information is usually located on the
  basis of geographical coordinates
• Can be used to analyse and reveal interactions
  and relationships between different spatial
  objects
• Visualisation of results gt digital maps,
• surfaces etc.

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Introduction to Geographical Information Systems
(GIS)

• Geographical Information Systems consist of four
  main elements

Spatial information
Attribute data tables
52,3 hectares Road no. 32
DATA
SOFTWARE
USERS
HARDWARE
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Introduction to the GISAS project

• Geographical Information Systems Applications for
  Schools GISAS
• Education and research project with a focus on
  secondary and high school geography in Europe
• Funded by the Directorate General for Education
  and Culture of the European Commission (2003
  2006)
• Blended learning
• In-service teacher training
• Pupils and students (from 11 to 19 years old)

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GISAS partners in Europe
Modified from MapInfo Professional 6.0. map
Europe.tab by Tino Johansson 2004
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Organisational structure
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Educational objectives of the GISAS project

• Introduce Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
  into European partner schools to support
  inquiry-based learning approaches there
• Train partner school teachers to use ArcView and
  ArcIMS in the classrooms and help them to carry
  out cross-subject learning activities with their
  pupils and students
• Produce locally collected GIS databases and
  learning materials for educational use,
  especially for studying the water quality of
  local rivers and canals
• Study how GIS can be incorporated into the
  schools with different curricula, educational
  cultures and languages

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Educational objectives local GIS databases

• Studied river and its local tributaries
• Water quality analysis points (GPS)
• Main sources of pollution
• Aquifers and soil types
• Recreational use of the river
• Land use patterns and intensity
• Urban drainage system / open
• sewers
• Habitat for different species
• Raster map of the local area

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Educational objectives

• Provide an interactive web-based GIS application
  with ArcIMS for the partner schools to share and
  visualize their databases, and to study their
  environment in a new way
• Use different types of data, such as shapefiles,
  raster maps, digital photos and written documents
  to support visual and spatial learning
• Use databases which allow the users to study the
  water quality theme in different regional scales
• Use ArcIMS to disseminate the databases and
  results of the project also to other interested
  schools world-wide

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ArcIMS as a tool for inquiry-based learning

• Opening page of the ArcIMS

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ArcIMS as a tool for inquiry-based learning

• Indentifying national differences

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ArcIMS as a tool for inquiry-based learning

• Zooming in and opening the map legend

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ArcIMS as a tool for inquiry-based learning

• Opening local databases of the Swedish partner
  school

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ArcIMS as a tool for inquiry-based learning

• Studying the digital photos and summaries of
  analysis sites

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ArcIMS as a tool for inquiry-based learning

• Studying the water analysis results of each site

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ArcIMS as a tool for inquiry-based learning

• Using queries and buffers to study the water
  quality

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Socio-cultural considerations

• The use of ArcIMS enhanced the adoption of a
  holistic approach to environmental education and
  geography
• pedagogical transformation is required
• Constructivism and inquiry-based approaches are
  not yet widely adopted in Europe
• Teacher-centered instruction is a common learning
  method in many schools
• Incorporation of GIS into the curriculum would
  fundamentally change the methods of teaching,
  learning and meaning constructed in the classroom

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Socio-cultural considerations

• Curricula, which supports the use of GIS at
  schools is seldom available
• incorporation has so far been based on teachers
  activity and small-scale local projects
• Different teaching and learning cultures affect
  the utilisation of web-based GIS services created
  for inquiry-based learning
• Language barriers most data and services only
  available in English
• Map reading skills and basic cartographic skills

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Socio-cultural considerations

• Cartographic symbols and colours of the
  topographic maps are different in most countries
• an obstacle and a challenge
• Map scales, coordinate systems and map
  availability
• GIS enhances visual learning and problem solving
  skills
• INSPIRE directive 2007/2/EC (Infrastructure for
  Spatial Information in the European Community)
• interoperability of national GI databases
• better availability of maps and databases for
  the public

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Contact information

• Tino Johansson
• Department of Geography
• P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 University of Helsinki,
  Finland
• email tino.johansson_at_helsinki.fi
• Tel. [phone]
• Fax. [phone]
• GISAS book http//ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/m
  at/maant/sarjat/julkaisuja/a/141/
• GISAS web application
• http//hmaa04a37.geography.helsinki.fi/gisas/v
  iewer.htm