Alli Ott

GEOG 710
Dr. Collins
July 18, 2016
Critical Response 2
When given the prompt for this essay, I was fully prepared to disagree with Downs and
say that GIS can reestablish a significant role for geography in education.1 However, as I
started to read Downs article, I found myself agreeing with him. While GIS and technology can
play an important role in schools and require students to do geography, they cannot change the
mindset of society. I agree with Downs, that in order to bring geography to the forefront of
peoples minds, their beliefs and views have to change.
With the creation of the geography textbook, the study of geography in schools evolved
to rote memorization. Instead of challenging and entertaining the students, geography became
simple, easy to study, and easy to forget. While textbooks were and are an important tool in
geography education, they helped change the mindset of educators, students, and society. In the
eighteenth century and before, geography was highly valued among the elite. It could transport a
person to an exotic place that he or she would never get to personally experience. It also helped
make educated American citizens. However, as the textbook emerged as a prime tool for teaching
geography, people were not asked to think critically or to do geography but only to memorize
random facts about a place. Society began to value geography education less, and therein lies the
problem with geography in schools today.2
As GIS becomes more popular and used in schools, it is encouraging a revitalization of
doing geography. GIS offers students direct access to geospatial data and gives them more
opportunities to think spatially. It can also help students to solve problems with real-world
application.3 Instead of just viewing a black and white picture in an outdated geography
textbook, students can now go online and view a digital image of almost anywhere in the world.
However, not all geography teachers are utilizing this new technology, and even those who do
use it may not always incorporate the technology in a way that will help the students.
While GIS and computers can capture students attention and make them think critically,
I believe that it can also become a tool in geography education that, like the textbook, can
underestimate students abilities in the classroom and further support passivity. Just because a
teacher uses technology in the classroom does not mean that it is used effectively. Despite the

1 Downs, R. 2004. From Globes to GIS: The Paradoxical Role of Tools in School
Geography. In Brunn, Cutter, and Harrington (ed.s) Geography and Technology.
Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 182.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid, 182.
arrival of the classroom computer the pedagogic practices remained firmly rooted with the
students as passive consumers.4
GIS has been used in secondary education since the 1990s in the subjects of geography,
biology, and math.5 Even though it has been used in classrooms for over twenty years, it still has
not managed to change the mindset of individuals regarding geography. GIS is not a new
invention, so why would it suddenly change the importance of geography now if it has not
already done so?
One of the major problems with GIS and computers in the classroom is that many
geography teachers do not know how to utilize these tools in geography. Since geography falls
under the category of social studies, many of the teachers who end up teaching geography in
high school have very little education in the subject themselves. These teachers usually studied
history in college and many of them view geography as a stepping stone they will need to teach
in order to teach the coveted history subjects. Since they themselves do not know much about
geography and do not know how to use GIS, they simply do not use it. While GIS is helpful for
students and is used in some classrooms, there are still many schools that do not use GIS to teach
their students.6
For the most part, many social studies teachers do not value geography nor place the
subject in high esteem. How is geography supposed to become a valued and important subject in
education if people still do not see its worth? In order for geography to regain its place in
education, society will have to once again place geography in high esteem. They will need to
change their mindset about geography. As Downs states, tools are only a means to an end.7
Computers and GIS are great tools to use in a geography classroom, but they cannot
make the ultimate change in bringing geography to the forefront of societys mind. They are
simply meant to be incorporated into a classroom, not given the sole responsibility of reviving an
endangered subject. In order to reestablish geography as a significant subject in secondary
education, teachers, students, and other members of society need to change their convictions.
They need to put a bigger emphasis and value on the study of geography. Overall, I agree with
Downs statement that tools alone cannot change the education system. Educators must utilize
these tools, but cannot rely on them to solely change geographys place in education.

4 Parkinson, A. 2013. How has technology impacted on the teaching of geography

and geography teachers? In Lambert and Jones (ed.) Debates in Geography
Education. London: Routledge, 194.

5 Kerski, J., A. Demirci, and A. Milson. 2013. The Global Landscape of GIS in
Secondary Education. Journal of Geography 112(6): 232-247.

6 Shin, E., A. Milson and T. Smith. 2016. Future Teachers Spatial Thinking Skills and
Attitudes. Journal of Geography 115(4): 139-146.

7 Downs, R. From Globes to GIS, 196