This months Features

ICT in Geography
The use of ICT in geography helps pupils learn by
providing access to large quantities of information on
people, places and environments. It also provides the
framework for analysing data to investigate patterns
and relationships in a geographical context. Once
pupils have made their findings, ICT can then help
them organise, edit and present information in many
different ways. Here, we cover the essentials you
need to know about when, why and how ICT should
be used to teach geography.
There is no doubt that ICT an ideal candidate for the use of ICT.
is the medium of today. It is In fact, the teaching of geography can
the medium of young people no longer be considered effective if
and it already plays a pivotal ICT is not fully utilised. Furthermore,
role in almost every aspect the fact that many students have
of their lives. Therefore, its high skill levels with regards to the
use in a classroom/learning application of new technologies has
environment supports the led to the development of highly
delivery of geography in a way creative and inspirational learning
that makes it highly engaging. and teaching resources and activity
Because of the nature of programmes which cannot be ignored.
geography, the subject lends itself as ICT provides teachers and students

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with immediate access to up-to-date,
topical geographical information and
our highly interconnected world. It
is a dynamic medium which, when
used appropriately, can significantly
reinforce and deepen geographical
knowledge and understanding as
never before. Moreover, it has been
shown that students often sustain
concentration levels more fully when
given the opportunity to support their
learning through the use of ICT.
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This is due to the ability of
modern technology to collect an
extensive range of geographical data
for exploring physical and human
patterns, distributions and processes
that would not be possible without
ICT. The same technology also
allows students to collect, display,
communicate and evaluate findings in
a highly creative and personal fashion.
ICT in the Geography
Curriculum
There is now a wide range of
multimedia resources available about
the world in which we live. These
can help students to visualise places
through pictures, animations and
sounds etc. But more than that:
Technology has created new
ways of exploring the world
through maps. These can now be
interactive, of variable scale, and
supported by multimedia. They
are easily accessible and can be
integrated into a variety of media.
Multimedia software can help
pupils to investigate geographical
This months Features
topics that would be too remote,
too dangerous, or involve too long
a timescale, to be studied without
ICT.
The internet and email enable
pupils to interact with peers and
other communities, to access and
research information and exchange
details of weather, environment
and culture. This brings otherwise
inaccessible localities into the
classroom. This can help to
develop global citizenship and
awareness of the sameness,
differences and diversity in the
cultures of the world.
Application to teaching
ICT has the potential to offer pupils
opportunities to work in role, engage
with real time situations which
promote teamwork, citizenship and
thinking skills. ICT should not be
seen simply as a bolt-on; it needs to
be carefully integrated into geography
lessons, with a clear rationale for its
use.
At Key Stages 1 and 2, ICT
helps pupils learn in geography by
providing access to large quantities
of information on people, places
and environments. Once pupils have
made their findings, ICT can then
help them organise, edit and present
information in many different ways.
At Key Stage 4, ICT should
be used to enhance learning and
teaching in geography to build on
ICT skills developed, enhanced and
applied in Key Stage 3 geography
and to underpin those required
within Key Stage 5; and to support
the development, enhancement
and application of functional skills;
literacy, numeracy and ICT. These are
crucial skills for the world of work.
An appropriate application of ICT
should offer pupils opportunities to:
Use their ICT capability to assist
and progress their learning in
geography;
Engage in higher-order thinking
skills, for example, by using ICT to
undertake detailed analysis when
modelling data;
Demonstrate, apply and reinforce
their understanding of ICT
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capability within a range of subject
contexts. The transferability of
ICT capability is an important
aspect of progression in
pupils knowledge, skills and
understanding.
An effective model of applying and
developing ICT across the curriculum
depends on a number of factors,
including:
effective teaching of the
curriculum programme of study
for ICT;
appropriate opportunities for
pupils to apply and develop
ICT capability in a range
of subjects and contexts
(transferable knowledge, skills and
understanding);
deployment of resources so that
subject areas can access ICT when
it is needed, including provision of
ICT within subject classrooms or
areas;
a policy for purchasing of resources
that maximises their use and allows
for flexibility of use, for example,
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This months Features
whole-class teaching, small-group provide examples of how ICT can be provide opportunities for pupils to
work, individual teacher use this embedded into subject teaching. learn in alternative and challenging
could include consideration of These ICT tools raise standards in ways using a wide range of sources
whole-school networking provision, geography because they of information and techniques to
laptops and wireless networking support teachers: support critical thinking;
capability; to teach geography more support both individual and
planned use of ICT in schemes effectively; collaborative work;
of work for all subjects, so that to improve lesson design; allow pupils access to sources of
resources can be deployed and to transform teaching and information relevant to a particular
organised appropriately; learning; enquiry by searching websites on
whole-school policies which clearly to engage and motivate pupils the Internet;
map and sequence opportunities to learn more effectively; allow pupils to identify and select
for application and development
of ICT, so that pupils bring the
appropriate ICT capability to
subject lessons;
whole-staff awareness of ICT
capability and what can reasonably
be expected of pupils in each year.
Typical ICT teaching tools that can
be used for embedding ICT into
subject teaching include: interactive
whiteboards, video projection units,
microscopes connected to computers,
prepared spreadsheets to capture and
model data, CD-ROMs, presentations
with video and carefully selected
resources from the Internet all
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the most useful information
and geographical sources for an
investigation;
enable pupils to seek answers to
focused geographical questions by
searching large datasets;
enable pupils to improve their
decision-making skills through the
use of computer generated models;
enable pupils to review, refine,
redraft and modify work in
progress;
help pupils to refine and present
their ideas more effectively and in
various ways.
To ensure the effective use of ICT in
geography, teachers should:
plan the use of ICT by pupils
in collaboration with the ICT
department to ensure that pupils
have appropriate ICT skills;
analyse how to build on prior
learning in geography and ICT
to inform planning of schemes of
work and design of lessons;
be sure that ICT resources are
available for the lesson.
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Importantly, when planning for ICT
use in geography lessons teachers
should consider whether the ICT is
adding value to the lesson:
Would the geography learning
outcomes be achieved as or more
efficiently without the use of ICT?
Is the identified form of ICT (both
hardware and software), the most
appropriate one to use?
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Opportunities for applying
ICT in geography
The use of ICT provides the
opportunity for pupils to develop their
ICT skills in geographical enquiry using
a range of media and presentation
techniques. These opportunities include:
Using data and information
sources - Use of ICT allows pupils
to analyse and evaluate evidence
and draw and justify conclusions.
There is a wealth of information
and up-to-date statistics on
websites, giving access to material
relevant to geographical enquiry
that simply could not be available
through any other medium.
Searching and selecting - The
ability to select and evaluate
material relevant to a task is crucial.
Pupils will often be working with
information in a variety of forms
and will also need to manipulate
high volumes of geographical data.
Using ICT enables them to search
for and select evidence and data
from a range of sources.
Organising and investigating
- Using ICT enables pupils to
undertake geographical enquiry
efficiently, by collecting and
organising data during fieldwork.
Refining and presenting
information -The use of ICT
allows pupils to convey the
outcomes of geographical enquiry,
using a range of media and
presentation techniques.
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Google Earth
Finally, of all resources, perhaps Google
Earth is the killer app for teachers.
Google Earth is a free geobrowser
that accesses satellite and aerial
imagery, ocean bathymetry, and other
geographic data over the internet
to represent the Earth as a three-
dimensional globe.
Google Earth provides search
capabilities and the ability to pan,
zoom, rotate, and tilt the view of the
Earth. It also offers tools for creating
new data and a growing set of layers
of data, such as volcanoes and terrain
that reside on Googles servers, and
can be displayed in the view.
It also uses elevation data primarily
from NASAs Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission (SRTM) to offer a terrain layer,
which can visualize the landscape in 3D.
For some locations, such as most of the
western portion of the United States, the
terrain data is provided at significantly
higher resolutions.
Navigation in Google Earth is
fairly intuitive for students who have
grown up in the age of the computer
and the Internet.
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Google Earth allows the user to
view true-color images draped over
topography for most of the globe, at
varying resolutions mainly depending
on the browsers eye altitude (height
above ground). The user can navigate
(pan) either by clicking and dragging
part of the field of view with the mouse,
by using the arrow keys, or by using a
set of navigation arrows displayed in
the main Google Earth viewer window.
The windows viewpoint can be rotated
relative to the virtual globe using a sliding
or rotating control on the viewer window.
The viewpoint can zoom into the globe
using a slider control, the mouse wheel
(PC) or control-clicking and dragging
(Mac). The viewpoint can also tilt from
a vertical position to a nearly horizontal
poisition (again using a slider control).
Google Earths main attraction,
however, has been its ability to display
vector datasets (placemarks - points,
lines, and polygonal areas), raster
images (overlays), and 3D virtual
models on top of the virtual globe.
With Google Earth, students
can browse casually on their own or
engage in structured inquiry-based
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explorations individually or in teams. projects.
Google Earth can be used: To enrich discussion of an issue
that arises spontaneously during an
To support hands-on inquiry by informal classroom discussion.
students in computer classrooms.
As a basis for homework Summary
assignments. Geography has long been acknowledged
For dynamic presentations during as an important vehicle for the use of
class lectures. ICT. It has the ability to fully engage
For inquiry during class and motivate pupils in geographical
presentations. concepts using authentic data and
To create imagery and maps for information sources, and enables
powerpoint, word, and other teachers to concentrate more closely
presentation tools. on teaching geographical skills, whilst
As a data discovery, organization, providing students with a pedagogical
and distribution tool for research sense of location and place.
Useful resources for teaching geography:
Suggestions for the use of ICT in Geography - http://eduwight.iow.gov.uk/curriculum/foundation/
geography/geogict/
Key Stage 3 Geography and ICT activities - http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/online-cpd/
course/key-stage-3-geography-and-ict/stimulus4/
Using ICT in Key Stage 3 Geography - http://www.nelsonthornes.com/secondary/geography/key_
geography/html/pdf/UsingICTinKS3Geog.pdf
Google Maps - http://www.google.com/educators/p_maps.html
Geography Classroom Activities - http://geology.com/teacher/map.shtml
Google Earth lessons for teachers - http://gelessons.com/lessons , http://www.juicygeography.co.uk/
googleearth.htm
The following links are for teachers and trainees looking for advice, ideas, information and downloadable
teaching resources: http://www.btinternet.com/~tony.poulter/links/geoglinks.htm
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