The State of Minnesota Department of Education has a state-wide license for Geographical Information Systems . On September 27th, I had a chance to attend a training at MDE to learn more. Applications: In social studies, Substrand 1 on Geospacial Skills, have two standards where technology is embeded. Students are to formulate questions on topics in geography and use geospatial technology to analyze problems and make decisions within a spatial context. GIS is a great tool for this. Authentic problems, like transportation and flooding can be addressed. In science, students are to use maps, satellite images and other data sets to describe pattersn and make predictions about natural systems in a life science context. Students could use GIS to use online data sets to compare wildlife populations or water quality within Minnesota. Sara Damon, a social studies teacher from Stillwater Public Schools talked about Spatial Thinking with Geotechnologies. Sheis a strong advocate fo...
Ideas and Tips on Digital Age Learning from Michael Walker. These thoughts and ideas may not represent the views of my employer.