GIS, Geospatial Technology, and Spatial Thinking in Geography Education

Abstract

Geospatial technologies, including the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and web-based maps, are slowly being integrated into geography education. By 2023, these practices had become common in higher education but continued to be less so in secondary education and were still rare in primary education. For decades, proponents of the technologies have made compelling arguments for the potential benefits of the applications, pointing to outcomes such as improvements in applying spatial analytical solutions problems, or to increased engagement with the subject. The first phases of technology adoption, however, were fraught with frustration and abandoned efforts, largely the result of poor alignment between instructional logistics, available standards-based curricula, and teacher’s reluctant wariness. Since the early 2010s, many of these obstacles have been reduced or even removed, particularly thanks to the availability of online mapping technologies. At the university level, a geography department or program without some type of GIS opportunity is uncommon, and larger institutions have students and faculty from dozens of different instructional units outside of geography regularly using the technologies in their research and educational workflows. However, in school-level geography, the word “despite” has been persistent in published observations and conclusions. Despite the easier access to mapping platforms, despite the availability of lessons and data designed for direct alignment with educational standards, despite increased school administrator support, and despite numerous professional development opportunities, there is still significantly less uptake than would have been expected by now. Arguably, the most substantial efforts have aimed to ameliorate the how of usage without adequate or convincing attention on the why. That is, despite the small but steady number of research-based conclusions that GIS usage can often have diverse and positive benefits on learning outcomes, those reasons are not always sufficient or adequate motivations for a teacher, a district, a state, or a country to begin the practices. The long-term linking of “GIS” and “spatial thinking” has been a complicated one. Spatial “skills”—such as the ability to mentally rotate an abstract three-dimensional object—are key indicators for success in engineering, architecture, and dentistry, but perhaps not so essential for those focusing on human geography; plus, improving the speed and accuracy at such skills is not an automatic outcome achieved via GIS. Important attention is now being paid to better understand the types and scales of spatial thinking that GIS may evoke, and how and why such GIS experiences may impact geography education.