High School Geography and Technology

This one’s pretty near and dear to me… In high school, I had a revolving door of geography teachers, some better than others, but on the whole, I still get the very strong impression that the image of geography as a subject still lags behind the regular science subjects – biology, chemistry and physics – and is usually casually lumped into the social sciences (excuse me people, since when is the study of rivers and volcanoes a social science?!?). My own former classmates and students comment that teaching high school geography is their fall-back plan if they can’t get another job or get into grad school right away.

That’s sad…

Geography is LITERALLY all around you, and to dismiss this important subject is missing such a strong element that, along with the medical field, brings together all the sciences: biology – biogeography and ecological studies (medicine: anatomy); physics – geophysics and seismic studies and climatology (medicine: x-ray and MRI machines); and chemistry – geochemistry and study of composition of soils and rocks (medicine: what do you think prescriptions are??), but also elements outside those sciences – economic geography, urban geography and planning, historical geography, etc. You find a lot of people doing those specialized fields end up boomeranging back to the core principles and elements of geography.

A critical question in business is always “where“. Where are my customers? Where are my competitors? Where can I place my business? Where should I NOT place my business? Where can I grow my business? Where are my opportunities? Good luck trying to answer those questions if you don’t know geography.

As technology grows and expands, and is accepted into the mainstream and appreciated by the education system, it is important not to isolate science and technology in the classroom. Sure, it’s important to have computer classes, etc, and yes, people prepare school reports using word processing software and google answers to tough questions. But that’s not enough. Technology needs to be integrated into all subjects. There is a GIS in schools programme in Jamaica which aims to harmonize geography and IT and bring the two together. A noble effort, to be sure, but this programme needs to evolve with the times, while at the same time accepting practical realities in schools locally. By being in separate departments – IT and social sciences – sometimes the effort devolves into an after-school activity if not creatively woven into a curriculum or promoted by a visionary and tireless teacher (either on the IT or social sciences side, or both).

But more importantly, the current programme is heavily tied to a particular kind of software and data, both of which tether the students and teacher to that particular software and its place of installation. I have two words for you here: Google Earth, or Google Maps (or any online map for that matter). People are interacting with maps as never before, and maps are no longer the domain of specialists; they belong to the people. People ultimately find their own uses for maps, and take it from there. You can take Google Earth and engage students as never before. Young people have an incredible capacity to soak up knowledge; we just have to aim them properly. And what better way than to have them play with high-res satellite imagery and 3D landscapes? They will learn the principles of geography in an applied IT setting. They begin to see its value for themselves, and relate geography to the real and future worlds they occupy.

I’m also aware of an effort to promote a new type of GPS-friendly paper maps in schools (not GPS navigation, or GPS technologies for that matter, just paper maps with coordinate grids). This would also help by assisting students to orient themselves, placing themselves in the world. It helps them understand basic principles before delving into the exciting (and crazy) world of Google Earth and more. Chances are that they know how to use a computer; do they know how to use a map?

So there are many ways to improve the image of geography in the high schools of Jamaica; this is definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution. But we have to realize that there are many ways to achieve an objective; sticking to a single approach, especially when times and people change, can be futile, costly (in both dollars and youth potential), or both.