Introduction to GIS Education
As all we know, GIS seems to be in every sector. Even though GIS education is a big part of a student’s life. In short, we can say that there is a revolution of GIS in the education system.
It is known to use in every level of formal and informal education. Nowadays, many researchers are using GIS as a weapon to link students with the global effects and concerns of maths and science.
GIS is known to form educational administration, academic institutions, and education policies. It all starts from beginning to the secondary level and continues throughout lifelong learning activities.
If you want to know something more about how GIS education matters in a student’s life, then keep your eyes until the end of this article. This article is a complete comprehensive guide to GIS education.
Different types of GIS education
In the education field, an expert must know the principles of cartography. It is vital because it helps us to understand how to create a map to convey data to others. Below we are going to show you some types of GIS education.
1.Online courses:-
Online courses give a solution to GIS training. Moreover, it offers the flexibility to complete work in time according to the schedule. There are many online courses and fall into three categories: a hybrid format where students meet face to face for lessons, blended learning environments with students using digital resources, and complete online classes where students never meet face to face.
2.Courses in Universities:-
GIS instruct as an expertise course in most of the universities that focus on technical or abstract aspects of the discipline. In technical M.Sc students are learning how to use and apply the software for one year. In short, they concentrate more on the theoretical aspects of GIS in universities.
3.Professional development courses:-
A professional development course is the best method for people who want to become a GIS expert. It is a brand-new opportunity for those who want to make their career in the GIS field. Lastly, it is the best way to know everything about this field.
Benefits of GIS education
There are many benefits of GIS in a student’s education. It increases the ability of the student to think critically about visualizing or analyzing the data.
Moreover, using GIS tools helps students to facilitate processing and transfer data by using numbers and numeric skills. Students can easily read and use symbols to interpret the information in word form through GIS. This ability is known as linguistic intelligence.
The data collected helps students to understand how to communicate location or historical information through a map. Moreover, recognizing through the practice of visual pictures and transforming situations increases the map literacy of students. Lastly, it increases the ability of students to communicate with others through written, verbal, or visual modes.
All around the world, experts are using two main methods to teach GIS: teaching about GIS and teaching with GIS. The second method helps students to engage in inquiry and solve problems.
However, GIS technology is helping students to visualize spatial patterns, maps, and relationships. Don’t think that it is only in geography courses. It can also seem in environmental studies, history, maths, biology, language arts, and other projects.
Applications of GIS in education
As we all know, GIS is trending in our classroom. But now it is also entering into the world of education administration. There are many applications of GIS in education that include technology infrastructure, planning activities, and campus safety.
Moreover, the administration includes constructing new buildings, recruiting students, and network management. Geographic tools are best to create data-driven decisions at all levels. However, GIS use to visualize vital data at both the local and national levels. Below is some critical consideration;
- The ratio of teachers and students
- Relationship between community attributes and educational data.
- Decreases English proficiency rates
- Similarities between states, districts, and schools.
- Lunch recipients get low or free.
- Federal funds distribution.
Lastly, GIS is the most effective way in national and state educational policy, determining where we can implement the resources and programs.
Bottom line
The bottom line is that despite global similarities, there are many different disciplinary ways to implement GIS. Moreover, these differences reflect the choice of data models.
In simple words, experts working in resource management focus on issues relating to applications of GIS instead of data. GIS is positively affecting student’s education. Lastly, the revolution of GIS in education has rightly enhanced the learning method.
