What is GIS?

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) represent features of the earth, such as buildings, cities, roads, vegetation and rivers on a computer. GIS isn't new, although many people haven't heard about it. On any give day, millions of people around the world use GIS in a huge variety of industries and for a wide range of purposes.

People use GIS to visualise, question, analyse, manage and understand data about the physical world and human activity. GIS allows this information to be viewed visually, on a map, which provides an advantage over viewing this type of information using a database or spreadsheet. Why? Because maps can reveal spatial relationships, reveal patterns and identify problems between layers of information that may not be apparent in tables or text.

 

Why Use GIS?

Schools across Australia are using GIS in a variety of creative ways to support their students in the classroom.  Geography teachers are analysing habitat loss over time, biology teachers are collecting data on water quality in a local catchment and economics teachers are using GIS to display census data. These are just a few small examples that illustrate the power of GIS to support your students' learning and engage them in the classroom.

GIS is naturally suited to examining local issues and solving local problems using data that has been collected locally. However, there are also a range of lessons that have been developed by ESRI Australia that allow your students to examine regions across the planet in a way they could have never done before.  GIS has many benefits to education and not just in the traditional realms of geography and the social sciences.

GIS:

• Allows your students to develop their spatial literacy
• Enhances your area of study by engaging your students in the classroom
• Lets you and your students examine and solve local problems using local data
• Gives your students opportunities to develop their IT skills in a meaningful way
• Provides your students with access to IT skills that are currently highly desireable across the country

 

 

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