Geospatial Literacy in a Changing World: Improving Student Engagement Through GIS and Blended Learning

This begins our journey as participants in the Teacher Learning & Leadership Program for 2012-2013.  Our goal is to improve student engagement and to improve critical thinking skills in students through the enhanced use of GIS as a tool for decision-making about current geographical issues.  This project will help us to:

• Expand our current GIS skills to enhance the delivery of geotechnology-based curriculum expectations;
• Create topical, engaging lessons, accessed through D2L, that use GIS to focus student learning on analyzing information and making decisions about their world;
• Teach critical thinking skills in our classrooms through the use of GIS technology;
• Provide workshops to share these GIS skills and lessons with teachers in our school and within the Limestone District School Board through a coaching model.

Implementation of this project in the classroom will be done through Blended Learning.