Though the opportunities for projects using GIS are unlimited, we chose to create projects that permitted students to map what they were reading to expose them to history at the local, national, and even international levels. Herein we share our positive experiences teaching through GIS and provide several examples of projects as well as the pros and cons of the approach. Since 2015 we have collaborated on several course projects that center on using GIS to enhance the reading of course texts and to build class projects, demonstrating that the digital mapping tool may be used across disciplines with students of varying technical expertise and comfort levels. One of us teaches criminal justice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the other is in the College of Arts and Sciences and teaches early American history.
We hail from different disciplines and schools at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Indiana. Digital mapping is particularly useful for teaching and learning history because it visually reminds students of the interaction between past and present.
GIS encourages students to think creatively about spatial relationships and realities and how these factors affect human action and interaction both past and present. Credit: Scott Ladzinski / EDUCAUSE © 2018Įducators across a wide variety of fields have used geographic information systems (GIS) in the classroom to supplement and enhance the learning experience.
The teaching possibilities created by interactive student projects bring life to events and people through space and time. As a digital mapping tool, geographic information systems can be used across disciplines with students of varying technical expertise and comfort levels.
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