THINKING SPATIALLY: Implementing Information Technologies in Secondary Education

S.J. Macklin
University of Maine

Saturday morning workshops providing hands-on training for students and high school educators in Maine, are a first step in implementing information technologies in the secondary education curriculum. The University of Maine's Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering has designed a curriculum which provides a representative picture of spatial information gathering, processing and analysis. Beginning with the information superhighway and search engines, educators and students develop necessary skills to retrieve data from the wealth of freely available satellite-generated geographic databases. Using experiential education, participants then explore cutting-edge tools in geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), remote sensing and digital image processing. Program materials include public domain GIS software, a web page construction disk, and a workshop manual with exercises and extensive resources. These materials were designed for direct use by educators in implementing information technologies in their respective schools. Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Numerous teachers have indicated a desire to begin development of pilot programs for their schools.


Presentation format:
using Power Point, so overheads, slides or computer is fine

Sharron J. Macklin
Spatial Information Science & Engineering
5711 Boardman Hall, Rm 138A
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469
(207)581-2115
smacklin@spatial.maine.edu