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The SDI team included one university researcher and four teacher researchers who worked collaboratively on the development, trialling and evaluation of design
initiatives. The design initiatives reflected a mix of the current uses of new
technologies by geography teachers (eg use of the internet for research), and an
exploration of the potential that these technologies may offer to the learning of
geography (eg the application of Geography Information Systems (GIS)).
The design initiatives
collectively addressed many of the concerns/ questions that relate to the teaching and
learning of geography with ICT, for example:
- is the use of the internet to research a geographical issue, such as inner city
redevelopment, more effective than the use of textbooks?
- will the increasing use of Virtual Fieldtrips contribute to a 'Centre Parcs' idea of
geography (ie controlled results drawn from a static non-challenging environment)?
- how far is it possible to use GIS applications in the classroom given that the software
currently available has been developed for non-educational uses?
In our meetings we discussed issues arising from the use of new technologies in
the teaching of geography ranging from the logistical (access to the computer room) to the
pedagogical (how does the use of ICT impact on the enquiry approach as outlined in the
Geography National Curriculum?).
We also shared views on what makes 'good' geography. The team was evenly
divided between social geographers and physical geographers but all agreed that
geography is important in the school curriculum because it is relevant and equips pupils
with the skills to make sense of the world around them. There was general support for
geographical enquiry, a central tenet of the Geography National Curriculum 2000: however,
at the start of the project it was not clear whether team members had a common understanding of it as an approach
to the learning of geography.
In whole team meetings there were opportunities for hands-on computer work. We focussed on how the
Web was being used by geography teachers i.e. researching from a range of web-sites
including both those targeted at schools (eg Geo-resources) and those designed for experts
(eg the Met Office site)
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