It was time to be trained today; a bonus to be able to sit back and relax, rather than have the responsibility of presenting for once! Robert (Bob) Lang, a Teacher of Geography at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls in Birmingham, was delivering a CPD GIS day for the King Edward VI Foundation Schools and Worcester branch of the Geographical Association (GA) and kindly offered a few FREE spaces to GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s local Geographical Association (GA) branch, members too. Since it was fairly local to me (being held in the Edward Elgar building on the St. John’s Campus at the University of Worcester), I decided to pop along, albeit a little later since I had a grammar school appeal to attend.
After the usual welcome, introductions, house-keeping and overview of the day, Bob began by exploring ‘What is GIS?‘. After introducing a layers of inference diagram incorporating boxes with questions, such as ‘What do I think GIS is?‘, ‘How do I think I could use GIS in the classroom?‘ and ‘How is GIS used in the wider world?‘, Bob explained the purpose of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), projected the table below that Alistair Hamill, who is based at Lurgan College in Northern Ireland, had produced and emphasised that it was not a new concept.
Bob discussed how GIS can aid teaching and learning and why teachers should use it. He stressed that GIS is not just for geography and highlighted the many cross-curricular links that exist. He also displayed Jack Dangermond (President of ESRI)’s, quote: ‘The application of GIS is limited only by the imagination of those who use it.’
Next, our attention was drawn to the ‘basics of GIS‘. This was a very hands-on session, demonstrating a range of skills using web-based viewers, visualiser and basic AGOL (ArcGIS Online).
After a short break, we reconvened to look at its ‘use in fieldwork‘. This involved some preparation inside, contemplating how we might utilise GIS, before we ventured outside to collect fieldwork data using AGOL and Survey123. I really enjoyed the screen break and working alongside another delegate to witness the potential of GIS beyond the classroom first-hand.
Lunch called and we had the chance to wander around the campus, as well as network with other attendees.
No longer with rumbling tummies and feeling revitalised after some sunshine and fresh air, we headed back to the ICT room to do some follow-up work centred around the data that we had all just collected and conducting some analysis using AGOL.
Later, we considered ‘advanced GIS‘. Bob discussed how we might develop the range of tools that are employed and shared some ideas as to how we could do this.
A quick comfort break was scheduled before we ended with a session around ‘planning for progress‘. Bob suggested that an awareness of Ofsted’s 3 Is can be helpful when planning for progress, e.g. What is the intent? Why do you want to develop the use of GIS/geospatial tools into the curriculum?; How is it going to be implemented? Over what timescale and by whom?; What is the desired, planned impact for students? What will progress look like?. He then spoke in more detail about what progress might look like in terms of the use of GIS in schools, before projecting some sample planning sheets, sharing best practice, talking about the future use of GIS in examinations, referring to SAMR, linking to climate action planning and highlighting careers opportunities.
Finally, Bob communicated his ‘What’s next?‘ intentions, which I also hope to be able to participate in. These included an online catch up in November, uploading any of our created resources to a shared area and national and global activities planned to mark geospatial month in late autumn.
A worthwhile way to spend a day. GIS no longer feels so alien and intimidating, but a manageable asset that could easily be integrated into daily teaching and learning at all levels. Many thanks to all involved in facilitating and delivering the day.