GIS in Teacher Education - Facilitating GIS Applications in Secondary School Geography

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have not yet been widely introduced to secondary school geography education in Finland. However, in the outline of the new national curriculum for upper secondary schools, GIS is incorporated into the elective, advanced geography course. The Finnish universities will therefore face new challenges in reconstructing their degree requirements for geography teachers in the future. GIS applications may help teachers to facilitate the implementation of constructivist and inquiry-based learning environments at secondary schools. Despite its potentials, many secondary schools in Finland still lack the resources and know-how required to use GIS in education. This paper shows the findings of a questionnaire survey focusing on in-service geography teachers at upper secondary schools in Finland.