WebGIS for Geography Education: Towards a GeoCapabilities Approach.

Recent developments in webGIS are transforming how geospatial information can be used in schools. Smart mapping, mobile applications, editable feature services (EFS) and web map services (WMS) are all now more freely available. These have made prior technological, cost and access challenges for teachers largely redundant but are only part of ensuring that geospatial information is used to its full educational potential in geography education. This paper argues that drawing on a GeoCapabilities approach can enhance teacher's use of webGIS in deepening their student's abilities to think and reason with geographical knowledge and ideas. To illustrate this line of argument, a geography curriculum artefact constructed in ArcGIS Online is presented and analysed. The discussion identifies a range of specific educational benefits of geography teachers adopting a GeoCapabilities approach to using webGIS including how powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) can be constructed. The discussion also identifies a number of significant implications for teacher education of adopting such a methodology. The paper concludes with recommendations for the future use of webGIS in schools and geography teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]