The use of ICT in school geography is becoming ever more important, as the new GCSE criteria and specifications commencing September 2009 suggest. This project has been developed primarily to ensure that these criteria and specifications are met.

The following observations from the project team suggest why ICT should be used to enhance learning and teaching in geography:

• To ensure more appropriate continuity and progression. To build on ICT skills developed, enhanced and applied in key stage 3 geography and to underpin those required within key stage 5.
• To support the development, enhancement and application of functional skills; literacy, numeracy and ICT. These are crucial skills for the world of work. Similarly, to support the development of graphicacy skills within a geographical context.
• Many students have high skill levels with regard to the application of new technologies. These must be utilized fully and wherever possible extended.
• ICT is the medium of today and that of tomorrow. It is the medium of young people and plays a pivotal role in their lives. Its use supports the delivery of highly motivational 21st century geography.
• The effective use of ICT allows for the development of highly creative and inspirational learning and teaching resources and activity programmes.
• Behaviour shaping; students often sustain concentration levels more fully when given the opportunity to support their learning through the use of aspects of ICT.
• ICT provides immediate access to up to date (up to the minute) topical geographical information. Teachers and students have our fast changing highly interconnected world at their fingertips.
• It is a dynamic medium which, when used appropriately by students and teachers, can significantly reinforce and deepen geographical knowledge and understanding.
• Digital Learning Resources allow access to a wide range of multimedia resources about the world in which we live and interact. These help students to visualise places through pictures, animations and sounds etc.
• Use of programmes such as Memory Mapper (landscape fly throughs) helps students to unravel the mystery of the third dimension and to see more clearly the relationship between the physical landscape and human interaction.
• ICT helps users to explore geographical physical and human patterns, distributions and processes.
• It provides a platform for the collection of an extensive range of primary and secondary geographical data.
• Allows students to collect, display, communicate and evaluate findings in a highly creative and personal fashion. Supportive of independent learning.
• ICT provides access to a wide range of free web-based digital maps of differing types and scales alongside aerial and satellite images.
• Provides access to historical geography, via archive materials. For example the materials available on the RGS-IBG website.
• ICT allows for the immediate gathering and exchange of a range of opinions about local to global issues. The use of ICT helps to consolidate interconnectivity and communication between people and places.
• To scrutinize bias in the reporting of issues from a local to global scale.
• Supportive of a qualitative/emotional, as well as a quantitative approach to investigating the geography of people, places and environments. The use of ICT should be at the heart of geographical detection work.
• Central to geographical enquiry (closed-independent enquiry) based investigation.
• Central to geographical problem solving and decision making.
• Supports modelling of existing and future(s) geographical scenarios.
• Helps students to produce ‘neat’, accurate, high quality work; supportive of higher order learning.
• Provides a platform for greater continuity between independent home-working and class based geographical study.

But don’t just take our word for it! Download the document below and record your own departmental observations and thoughts.

Download: Departmental Observations form

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