GIS in New Zealand schools: Issues and prospects

Abstract

There are undoubtedly many parallels between Australia and New Zealand in the history of GIS in schools. These parallels occur in the social, institutional, professional development and curricula areas, and each of these topics is considered below. In New Zealand at least, there is still a lot that needs to be done before we can assert that GIS is providing appropriate technology skills for young people in the context of their developing thinking about geographical features and their distribution. This Forum contribution considers some of these matters, with the related paper on teaching with GIS in New Zealand focusing more on the curriculum frameworks and classroom approaches.