GIS in Schools: Experiences and Progress in Germany

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1 Dirk Schaefer GIS in Schools: Experiences and Progress in Germany Since the 1990s geographic information systems (GIS) in Germany have become an important part of daily life; their significance in schools, however, remains weak. Still, in the last 5 years remarkable progress has taken place in schools. Diercke GIS is the most popular GIS package in German schools because it is easy to use, i.e., fast to learn, and cost-efficient. The software was developed by ESRI Germany in collaboration with Westermann-Schulbuchverlag, a leading publishing house for geographic educational materials in Germany. Diercke GIS is based on ArcView 3.2 technology and comes with a large collection of maps and ready-to-use data. A second approach to introduce the use of GIS in schools is via the internet. An Internet-GIS, based on ArcIMS-technology using data and maps from the State of Rheinland-Pfalz, was developed in the Department of Geography at Mainz University. This provides a simple, straightforward and very costeffective introduction of GIS in schools: use of this GIS technology is free. INTRODUCTION Since the 1990s geoinformation and geographic information systems (GIS) in Germany have become an increasingly important part in many areas of daily life: the weather forecasts in the daily news on TV include satellite images and even animated flights through 3D-landscapes, navigation systems are available in cars, travel planners are used via Internet to find the best route etc. GIS is the tool that is used every day by professional planners, emergency and disaster response personnel, in government agencies and in businesses in Germany and around the world as well. In Universities in Germany GIS has been applied and used in research since a long time and the students learn in classes how to use GIS to answer geographical questions. The significance of GIS in schools, however, remains weak. Still, in the last 5 years a remarkable progress in deployment of new media took place in schools due to a governmental initiative: every school in Germany has Computers and Internet Access. The most recent addition to this new media deployment is GIS. GIS are slowly, but steadily becoming an integral part in teaching geography with teachers all across Germany. The biggest barriers to deployment remain their cost, the necessary hardware and data. In addition to these, there is a steep and fairly long learning curve for GIS, which deters still too many teachers from using it in their teaching. As elsewhere, best progress in using GIS in the classroom is achieved with low cost

2 software, well-prepared data, and ready-to-use lesson modules. Such modules typically form the building blocks for teachers to develop their own projects with local and regional data. This approach has proven particularly useful because the teacher acts as guide, introducing the technology and methods, and the students develop and manage their GIS projects, solving all the project challenges and tasks. Using GIS in schools demonstrates students the ubiquity and thus importance of geography in every area of their daily lives while teaching them to work with new technologies as a fundamental research tools. Students apply GIS as an information system in order to learn more about their immediate and larger environment and begin to understand how everything on earth is truly connected in one system. Advanced students use GIS to solve problems, such as regional case studies about changing the environment due to human activities, and become active contributors to the quality of life of our society. GIS IN SCHOOLS? GIS is more than just another software tool or programme that can be used in schools. It is also more than just computer mapping. Applying GIS offers new access to geographic data and therewith it helps to answer questions related to space as well as changes in space and time. Therefore GIS can be used in Geography classes and other classes as well. Due to the access to the database and different new medias GIS gives more interactions for students than an ordinary atlas, where many limitations can be found in map and data analysis. As an interactive tool GIS allows students to visualize and manipulate data, to draw their own maps and graphs. Another advantage is the possibility of the editing and updating maps and tables. Furthermore data from governmental organizations or others can be integrated into the system to analyse regional and local data of the environment of the students. Usually GIS software is developed for scientific, ecological or economical purposes; for schools an adapted version of GIS is required. Diercke GIS - the GIS for Schools "Diercke GIS" is the most popular GIS package in German schools because it is easy to use, i.e., fast to learn, and cost-efficient. The software was developed by "ESRI Germany" in collaboration with "Westermann-Schulbuchverlag" ("Westermann Textbook Publishing Company"), one of the leading publishing houses for geographic educational materials in Germany, and Partners (ZEBRIS Geoinformation Systems and Consulting, Munich) for the development of the application. Diercke GIS is based on ArcView 3.2 technology and features a special menu bar in German and English and thus it can be used in bilingual teaching. The package comes with a large collection of maps and ready-to-use data. Diercke GIS includes all mapping and analysis functions of ArcView and can be used out-of-the-box. Diercke GIS distinguishes between two kinds of users: the teacher and the students. The "Main menu" of Diercke GIS includes the "teacher settings", which are only available for the teacher at a pre-defined teacher computer. This allows the teacher to change the software layout, the levels of functional complexity and the modules which are available for the students. Additionally, Diercke GIS can be used in bilingual classes (German/English). From a (pre defined) student computer it is not possible to have access to the settings (fig. 1).

3 Figure 1: Page 1 of the "Teacher settings" Diercke GIS comes with various data packages with different themes (UN Development Index (HDI-GDI), European Union, Germany, Ruhr-area). The teacher can choose one or more of the themes provided in the data packages to prepare his lessons looked up by the national geography standard for the different year levels (fig. 2).

4 Figure 2: Page 2 of the "Teacher settings" However, it can also be used to create own projects with individual data. For example to work with regional data in order to analyse geographic data and to solve real world problems (fig. 3). Additionally, Diercke GIS provides different extensions, which are very useful to work with own projects. Scanned maps or aerial photos, which are available in the Internet, can be rectified and combined with other data in the GIS. Another extension produces easily and fast interactive HTML-Maps to present the results in the internet.

5 Figure 3: Applying Diercke GIS with own data Web-GIS - free GIS technology for Schools A second approach to introduce the use of GIS in schools is via the Internet, specifically mapping solutions. An Internet-GIS, based on ArcIMS-technology using data and maps from the State of Rheinland- Pfalz, was developed in the Department of Geography at Mainz University. The system was developed in close cooperation with teachers in order to arrange a collection of didactically conceived data components that can be directly used in classes following the general requirements of the curriculum. This provides a simple, straightforward and very cost-effective introduction of GIS in schools: the use of this GIS technology is free. The Internet-Mapping provides various GIS tools (fig. 4) and even allows the user to query the database (fig. 5 & 6).

6 Figure 4: Internet-Mapping: Layers, Toolbar and Legend

7 Figure 5: Internet-Mapping: Query-Manager

8 Figure 6: Internet-Mapping: Results of Query CONCLUSIONS GIS is a modern tool that can be used across the curriculum wherever there is a spatial question to be answered (including History, Biology etc.). The applying of GIS in schools contributes to the development of the essential skills in daily life. Students handle information and data in their own projects, they have to prepare and analyse data, to create graphs and maps and to solve geographical questions. The use of GIS helps them to understand and handle computers and new media - GIS are one of the most important tools in the 21th century. Since the last 5 years remarkable progresses have taken place in schools in Germany. Many schools already apply GIS in classes and in the near future GIS will be used in all schools across Germany. Diercke GIS has been established as a ready-to-use programme for schools that can be adapted for different year levels. It provides the functionallity of ArcView 3.X and teachers and students use a professional GIS and therewith the same advanced technology as governments and business etc use. Diercke GIS comes with

9 well developed data sets, collected according didactic and pedagogical principles. The application of GIS enables geographic exploration through design of maps, charts, and tables in response to an endless array of "What's it like?" and "What if?" questions. Due to its data packages it enables the teacher to prepare and give lessons according the curricula principles of the 16 states in Germany. However, Internet-GIS is a good approach to introduce the use of GIS in schools. In Germany, every school has access to internet and they can use the Map-Services provided by Internet-GIS for free. The Department of Geography has developed various Map-Services, which can be used for a didactically appropriate introduction of Geographic Information Systems at high schools and comprehensive (middle) schools. Internet-GIS can be used for the introduction of GIS and the use as an information tool. A "real" GIS provides more functions and provides for more advanced and experienced users the possibility to create, manage and analyse own projects. REFERENCES Audet, R. and G. Ludwig, GIS in Schools. Redlands: ESRI Press, Malone, L., A.H. Palmer and C.L. Voigt, Mapping Our World, GIS Lessons for Educators. Redlands: ESRI Press, Richter, B. and R. Schlimm, Diercke GIS A Geographic Information System for Schools. Braunschweig: Westermann, Internet: (18/6/2003). Schaefer, D. und J.-P. Mund, Einsatz Geographischer Informationssysteme im Erdkundeunterricht. In: Geographie heute 195, 18-21, Schaefer, D. und G. Ortmann, GIS macht vieles einfacher. GIS im Erdkundeunterricht (Teil I). In: Geographische Rundschau , Schaefer, D., Geografische Informationssysteme (GIS) im Erdkundeunterricht. In: ESRI Anwenderkonferenz Deutschsprachige Anwenderkonferenz. Conference-CD. 5 pages, Schaefer, D. und G. Ortmann, Aller Anfang ist schwer! GIS im Erdkundeunterricht (Teil II). In: Geographische Rundschau , Schaefer, D. und G. Ortmann, Die Muehe lohnt sich! GIS im Erdkundeunterricht (Teil III). In: Geographische Rundschau 7/ , ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to thank the University of Mainz, Germany, for providing grants to attend the ESRI UserConference 2003.

10 Dr. Dirk Schaefer Department of Geography Mainz University Mainz, Germany