Bringing Schools into the 21st Century (Explorations of Educational Purpose)

Bringing Schools into the 21st Century (Explorations of Educational Purpose) Review

Shift happens: Emerging technologies and globalization have resulted in political, social and cultural changes. These changes have a profound impact on all aspects of human life, including education. Yet while society has changed and continues to change, schools are slow to keep up. This book explores issues related to transforming and modernizing our educational systems, including the impact of societal shifts on education, the efforts at various levels to bring schools into the 21st century, the identification of 21st century skills, the reformation of the curriculum, the creation of alternative models of schooling, the innovative use of technology in education, and many others. It addresses questions like the following: Should schools systems adapt to better meet the needs of tomorrow’s world and how should this be accomplished? How can society better prepare students for a changing and challenging modern world? What skills do students need to lead successful lives and become productive citizens in the 21st century? How can educators create learning environments that are relevant and meaningful for digital natives? How can the school curriculum be made more rigorous to meet the needs of the 21st century? This book encourages readers to transcend the limits of their own educational experience, to think beyond familiar notions of schooling, instruction and curriculum, to consider how to best structure learning so that it will benefit future generations. It encourages a deeper analysis of the existing education system and offers practical insights into future directions focused on preparing students with 21st century skills.

International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS in Secondary Schools

International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS in Secondary Schools Review

This, the first publication to collate a broad international perspective on the pedagogical value of GIS technology in classrooms, offers an unprecedented range of expert views on the subject. Geographic Information Systems (GISs) are now ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive. They have revolutionized the way people explore and understand the world around them. The capability they confer allows us to capture, manage, analyze, and display geographic data in ways that were undreamt of a generation ago. GIS has enabled users to make decisions and solve problems as diverse as designing bus routes, locating new businesses, responding to emergencies, and researching climate change. GIS is also having a major impact in the classroom. Students and teachers around the world are using this significant emerging technology in the secondary school classroom to study social and scientific concepts and processes, to broaden their technical skills, and to engage in problem solving and decision making about local and global issues. International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS in Secondary Schools brings together authors from 34 countries who profile the current status of GIS in secondary school teaching and learning in their country. Each chapter includes a summary of the country’s educational context, a case study illustrating how GIS is used in secondary schooling, and an assessment of the opportunities and challenges in teaching and learning with GIS now and in the future. The book demonstrates that GIS is not only a technological tool to be used in the classroom, but also a catalyst for motivation, encouragement, and cooperation in understanding and solving global problems. The most up to date and extensive survey of GIS in the secondary education landscape, covering both principles and practice. Professor David Maguire, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Birmingham City University, UK International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning With GIS in Secondary Schools is a highly relevant, critically important, reflective contribution to the literature, providing strong arguments supporting the inclusion for spatial studies for all in secondary school education.  Karl Donert, President, EUROGEO This is an invaluable and inspirational examination of innovation in geospatial technologies in secondary schools around the world. Each chapter contains practical models for how to integrate powerful tools for spatial analysis into a range of subjects. It will be useful to classroom teachers and administrators seeking pathways to implementation and teacher educators considering how to prepare the next generation to use geospatial technologies. Sarah Witham Bednarz, Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA