1. GIS Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities Innovation and Challenge Prof. Mark Lawrence PhD, Bemidji State University, Minnesota, USA Prof. Dr. Yvonne Schleicher, University of Education, Weingarten, Germany

2. GIS Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities Innovation and Challenge Prof. Mark Lawrence PhD, Bemidji State University, Minnesota, USA

3. GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher GIS in Geographic Education How, where and when do we teach in schools with GIS?

4. GIS represents, in my opinion, the single biggest contribution geographers have made to society and economy since the Age of Discovery. (Patrick Wiegand, School of Education, University of Leeds, UK, 2001, p.68) Importance of GIS in Geographic Education GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher

5. A perspective from Germany: Teacher education doesn´t include GIS education as a basic competence – optional offerings Bologna-Process: Bachelor-Curriculum: potentials of GIS Master-Curriculum: didactic how to integrate GIS in a school curriculum GIS in Geographic Education at Universities GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher

6. A perspective from the United States: Worldwide, half the number of professionals using GIS are found in the US Professional preparation: mostly only a single GIS course no GIS education curriculum GIS in Geographic Education at Universities GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher

7. A global effect: Frustration about the complexity of mastering the software. Student Reactions to GIS GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher

8. GIS is more challenging for teachers than previous technical innovations. Significant gap: Why is it so difficult to integrate GIS in Geographic Education? GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher teaching about GIS teaching with GIS

9. GIS is more challenging for teachers than previous technical innovations. Significant gap: Why is it so difficult to integrate GIS in Geographic Education? GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher teaching about GIS teaching with GIS

10. GIS in Geography Lessons at Schools: Problems GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher Complexity of the software Lack of education-specific training Lack of time to prepare lessons Shortage of special data for geography-lessons at schools Conviction that the effort to integrate GIS in the classroom is worth is. Lack of equipment, insufficient funds for site licenses and software upgrades Communication gaps between teachers in the classroom and school administrators

11. Three Steps to a successful Curriculum Implementation of GIS GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher

12. Requirements for successful GIS work in schools: Predictors of GIS-Implementation in Education (Audet & Paris 1996) GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher Good computer file management Databank skills Comfort in giving students freedom to explore in class Existence of a project usable in the classroom

13. Items that enhance GIS-Use (Kerski 2001) GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher The number/amount of: training hours years a teacher had been teaching teachers using GIS in one school technical and administrative support conferences attended But don´t forget:

14. Confirmation: Personal benefit of teachers Innovation decision (GIS-Use) Diffusion Model of Education (Caffarella & Hall, 1999) GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher

15. Main Benefits of GIS-Implementation (Kerski 2001) GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher providing real-world relevance to subject matter providing an exploratory tool for data analysis enhanced learning enhanced motivation and student interests integration of different subjects

16. Research about GIS-Use in Schools: Status Quo (Bednarz S. 2003) GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher „In terms of research findings, no study provides a „magic bullet“ for GIS in education – the study that proves it is worth the time and effort to implement it, the study that will persuade the majority to adopt.“ (Sarah Bednarz, Journal of Geography Nov./Dec. 2003, p. 232)

17. Research about GIS-Use in Schools: GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher Empirical research on GIS use in geographical education at schools Effects on learning/understanding Geography by GIS use Special value of GIS in geographic education...

18. The Road ahead: Mobil Learning with GIS and GPS GIS-Use in Geography Lessons at Schools, Colleges and Universities – Lawrence & Schleicher Geocaching: www.geocaching.com...

19. E-Mail: schleicher@ph-weingarten.de mlawrence@bemidjistate.eduschleicher@ph-weingarten.demlawrence@bemidjistate.edu www.geocaching.com www.geocaching.de Choose a cache Print the instructions Organize a GPS-Navigator Action – Have Fun! The Road ahead: Mobile Learning with GIS and GPS Geocaching