Discussion - Week 15 - Chapter 5

Compare the features and instructional applications of GIS and GPS tools. How can educators use GIS and GPS tools to enhance student learning?

GIS applications, like MapQuest or Google Maps, could be used for learning map skills starting in kindergarten. By second grade, my son was expected to make a map of our neighborhood for his homework, and it would be very interesting to have the children compare the map they made to one of the GIS maps. It would also be a great way to illustrate a modern-day version of a trip, like Lewis and Clark's journey and compare and contrast the "ideal, present-day" trip to the path they traveled. Or it might be fun to show the kids the various routes that could be taken to a field trip, then see which way the buses actually travel.

Hand-held GPS units would make a great campus-based geo-caching experiment. Trinkets could be hidden in different places outside on the campus, and students could work in groups to find them - probably each group with several to find, not trying to beat each other to the same spots. With parent permission, it could be extended to the neighborhood, depending upon the walkability and safety. GPS units could also be used for a "find your way back to school" project for older students (with parent permission), where students were taken a reasonable distance away from school (with supervision) and given a GPS to find their way back. This would be a fun project after TAKS testing is done.