Abstract
Abstract : Education is one of the most crucial elements that lay a foundation for achieving sustainable development, professional training and improved quality of life for individuals. Complementary to education, the United Nations recognizes the need for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) education to be implemented in all schools across the globe. In response to the call, different countries, led by the United States, Canada and Europe, have implemented GIS education in high schools. When compared to other teaching methods, GIS education offers a channel for the diffusion of innovative teaching and learning which cultivates critical thinking and spatial abilities. Even though GIS education has been envisioned as a strategy that can contribute to new ways of thinking, teaching, learning and understanding, efforts of introducing such education in South African schools have been confronted by various resource and human capacity challenges. This study has thus focused on exploring the perspectives of GIS education so that GIS implementation dynamics could be analyzed. A mixed method approach with a survey research design was applied to gain perspectives of GIS education from students and educators. From the results, it was evident that the authentic potential of GIS education has been limited by inadequate resources, insufficient human capacity development and limited exposure of learners to GIS practicals. Through conducting the study, it was thus recommended that GIS education in South African schools should come with hardware, software and the opportunity of exposing educators and students to practical methods of teaching and learning GIS.
M.Sc. (Engineering Management)