![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2017\/08\/schools1.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGIS has revolutionised the way in which we view land on Earth and has been noted as one of the 25 most important developments for human impact in the 20th Century due to its powerful analytical abilities. Students who are familiar with its uses not only have a better understanding of their environment but are better equipped to enter the technological business world.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, GIS software was quite complex with time-consuming downloads and processing. Indeed, GIS was not initially created for use in the classroom but rather as a decision-making tool to be used by government and business. Unfortunately, such characteristics made the use of GIS unsuitable for the contemporary classroom that is under increasing curriculum and timetabling pressures. So how do teaching practitioners effectively implement GIS in our classrooms in a way that both fulfils the criteria of the National Curriculum and acts as a tool to promote learning among our students?<\/p>\n
Digimap for Schools<\/a> offers a solution to this problem. As a collaborative venture between EDINA and Ordnance Survey, Digimap provides an online mapping service to both students and teachers. The online nature of this service instantly makes it time-effective to implement in the classroom. With no need for downloading software or mobile apps, maps can be accessed at any time and on various platforms (e.g. laptops, iPads or mobile phones) and all that students require is internet access. A far cry to the bulky and time-consuming GIS software that I became familiar with at university!<\/p>\n During a GIS club run by the Geography Department at The Mountbatten School, students were asked to create a proposal to identify the best locations for bins and recycling centres on the school grounds. Using Digimap for Schools, students collected raw data which was uploaded to their own maps. Students then used buffers and their personal understanding of various environmental and human factors to analyse and interpret the data to make justified decisions which would then better inform their proposal. Something that soon became apparent was how Digimap can allow differentiation by outcome in that students had complete control over what went onto their maps and what functions they were going to use to make their decisions. The only premise was that their decision would need to be justified; both an important command word in the new GCSE specification and a skill used throughout personal and professional life.<\/p>\n The user-friendly layout meant that students quickly became familiar with the functions and confident in its uses. As such, students could complete complex GIS functions in a short period of time and view the results instantly, which further motivated them to challenge their data by processing alternative solutions leading to better-informed decisions. Other features that students enjoyed included being able to upload their own images to maps, annotating their choices and using historical maps and aerial images to view their map area in different settings.<\/p>\n From a teacher\u2019s perspective, the service is very simple to use and, as many classrooms and IT suites are now fitted with interactive whiteboards, it is easy to demonstrate to students how to perform functions. Overall, its value is efficient as a tool in promoting geographical inquiry and independent decision-making. Its layout is easily familiar and the outputs of functions are immediate, which allow students time to process and manipulate data as they feel appropriate. It is a service that puts as much emphasis on the process as it does on the output, providing an authentic learning experience for both students and teachers.<\/p>\n Megan Roodt is a Geography teacher @geography_meg<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Digimap for Schools: www.digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 @Digimap4Schools<\/a><\/p>\n If you enjoyed reading this article we invite you to join the Associationfor Learning Technology (ALT) as an individual member, and to encourage your ownorganisation to join ALT as an organisational or sponsoring member<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Geography National Curriculum for England states that students should be taught to \u201cuse Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data,\u201d (DfE, 2013). While it can be agreed that proficiency in GIS is a valuable skill of Geographers, implementing its effective use in the classroom can be both ambitious and […]","protected":false},"author":480,"featured_media":6546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1059],"tags":[725,739,749,865,881,1019],"class_list":["post-6543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-app-review","tag-altc","tag-apps","tag-blendedlearning","tag-innovation","tag-jisc","tag-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2017\/08\/schools1.jpg?fit=1623%2C996&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":960,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2011\/08\/a-week-in-the-life-of-graham-mcelearney\/","url_meta":{"origin":6543,"position":0},"title":"A week in the life of Graham McElearney","author":"ALT","date":"18 August 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A Week in the Life of Graham McElearney Graham McElearney is a Learning Technologist at The University of Sheffield, and deputy Editor of ALT-N Monday After a blissful weekend spent in my recently acquired caravan in the middle of the nearby Peak District, I have the first couple of hours\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A week in the life of"","block_context":{"text":"A week in the life of","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/a-week-in-the-life-of\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12075,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2024\/04\/event-report-learning-technology-supporting-employability-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":6543,"position":1},"title":"Event Report: Learning technology supporting employability","author":"ALT","date":"5 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Neil Dixon (ARU), Rob Howe (Northampton), Uwe Matthias Richter (ARU) ALT East England and East Midlands organised an event on Learning technology supporting employability at Anglia Ruskin University Peterborough (ARU Peterborough).\u00a0The event was structured into five workshops\/presentations and a panel discussion and was held on 11 January 2024. 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This trend has only been accelerated by the global pandemic as lockdowns forced practitioners from all corners of education to adapt to delivering lessons online.\u00a0 However, this rapid growth in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "#AmplifyFE"","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"#AmplifyFE","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/03\/AmplifyFE-logo.png?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5864,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2016\/08\/facebook-pedagogy-and-education-in-apprenticeships\/","url_meta":{"origin":6543,"position":3},"title":"Facebook Pedagogy and Education in Apprenticeships","author":"howardscott75","date":"16 August 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 This article describes how social media pedagogies create meaningful provision and an opportunity space for the emergence of 'apprentice as subject'. Bruner (1960) advocated meaningful curricula, asserting that if prior learning was going to make subsequent learning easier, then it had to provide students with a general picture of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Case studies"","block_context":{"text":"Case studies","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/case-studies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2016\/08\/facebook-pedagogy.jpg?fit=768%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2016\/08\/facebook-pedagogy.jpg?fit=768%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2016\/08\/facebook-pedagogy.jpg?fit=768%2C575&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2016\/08\/facebook-pedagogy.jpg?fit=768%2C575&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1405,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2012\/02\/the-self-organised-learning-environment-sole-school-support-pack\/","url_meta":{"origin":6543,"position":4},"title":"The Self Organised Learning Environment (SOLE) School Support Pack","author":"ALT","date":"27 February 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This document is designed to support the implementation of Sugata Mitra\u2019s Self Organised Learning Environment (SOLE) into multiple school contexts. It contains \u2018whole school\u2019 related information for Head Teachers and senior staff in addition to teaching and learning support for teachers and support staff.","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Samples of Student Work: Example 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/02\/example2.png?fit=625%2C731&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/02\/example2.png?fit=625%2C731&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2012\/02\/example2.png?fit=625%2C731&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6529,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2017\/07\/playful-learning-the-elearninged-conference-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":6543,"position":5},"title":"Playful Learning: the eLearning@ed Conference 2017","author":"howardscott75","date":"18 July 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"eLearning@ed is a community of practice at the University of Edinburgh, which brings together learning technologists and academic colleagues through meet ups and events. 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