An evaluation of the use of GIS and open data in secondary school education in South Africa, with reference to QGIS and OpenStreetMap (OSM)

Abstract

South Africa is one of only a few countries that has Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the secondary school curriculum. Of these few, SA is even more singular as its Geography syllabus includes GIS geoprocessing. Results from this study show that only a minority of teachers teach practical GIS classes irrespective of their Examination Board, access to hardware, how resourced their school is or whether they teach at a private or a government school. The key determinants to teaching practical GIS lessons are the teacher’s perceived GIS expertise and access to spatial data and time. Software, connectivity, and power supply are also identified as challenges. Teachers who participated in the study overwhelming agree that there are numerous benefits to using GIS in the classroom. They also expressed a keen willingness to attend GIS courses and learn more about QGIS. A sample group evaluated how OpenStreetMap (OSM) could be used to create local spatial data and how QGIS can be used to teach the GIS curriculum and used to map local data for individual research projects. There is an urgent need for more current research, both globally and locally, into how GIS can be used more in secondary school pedagogy.

Improving the quality of Geography Teacher Education through Geographical Information Systems and Self-Directed Learning

“…On the other hand, Egiebor and Foster (2019) define GIS as a tool that permits students to discover, scrutinise and interpret data from a spatial viewpoint, supporting students' involvement, learning, and performance in the classroom. GIS can also be defined as powerful tools for collecting, retrieving, transforming, and displaying spatial data from the real world (Healy & Walshe, 2020;González et al, 2020;Fleming & Evans, 2021).…”

“…This means providing hands-on activities that allow students to find answers independently and develop SDL skills. GIS also helps students learn through hands-on activities in which computers and smartphones are frequently involved (Han, 2019;Collins & Mitchell, 2019;Fleming & Evans, 2021). Teaching through GIS entails mainly making maps, which helps students connect what they learn in class with real-world situations, thereby enabling them to develop SDL skills that may help them after they have graduated and entered the work environment.…”

“…Teaching through GIS entails mainly making maps, which helps students connect what they learn in class with real-world situations, thereby enabling them to develop SDL skills that may help them after they have graduated and entered the work environment. This has made GIS more applicable and popular in modern daily life (Han, 2019;Holler, 2019;Fleming & Evans, 2021).…”

Teachers’ Perceptions of Paper-Based GIS Implementation in The Rural Learning Ecology

“…This included fundamental training, covering the basics of GIS theory. At the beginning of the year, geography curriculum advisors countrywide were flown or driven to GIMS's Midrand offices to attend a GIS training course (Breetzke et al, 2011;Fleming & Evans, 2021). Approximately one hundred curriculum advisors attended the three-day training for three weeks.…”

“…Day one saw the facility transformed into a training centre for schools with no GIS computer facilities. The geography curriculum advisors were given a simple GIS task to complete with the aid of maps (courtesy of the Department of Land Affairs), crayons, and tracing paper (Breetzke et al, 2011;Fleming, & Evans, 2021;Kerski et al, 2013;Mzuza & Van der Westhuizen, 2020). The task involved searching for the best location to evacuate residents in the event of a flood.…”