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Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

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The place of Geo<strong>in</strong>formation technologies <strong>in</strong> the educationand professional development of European geographersStelian Dimitrov, Anton PopovFaculty of Geology and <strong>Geography</strong>, Sofia University “St.Kliment Ohridski”,15 Tzar Osvoboditel Bd, Sofia 1504, Bulgariae-mail: stelian@gea.uni-sofia.bgAbstractThis paper discusses the importance of GIS and related geo<strong>in</strong>formation technologies <strong>in</strong> theprocesses of capacity build<strong>in</strong>g of geographers. In the analysis of different teach<strong>in</strong>g programs,the accent is placed onto European practices <strong>in</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g GIS. The paper is try<strong>in</strong>g to depict thesituation of GIS education <strong>in</strong> Europe and to propose a view for the chang<strong>in</strong>g of the teach<strong>in</strong>gapproaches of GIS and GI technologies as a whole <strong>in</strong> the geography curriculum.Key words: <strong>Geography</strong>, GIS, teach<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>Geography</strong> education, Geo<strong>in</strong>formation technologies,professional development, capacity build<strong>in</strong>gIntroductionIn recent years the use of computers and <strong>in</strong>formation technology as a whole changeddramatically the system of higher education. Today we cannot imag<strong>in</strong>e the traditionallyvery conservative academic world without ICT. In the case of academicgeography this role is played more or less by Geographical <strong>in</strong>formation Systemsand related Geo<strong>in</strong>formation (GI) technologies. Those technologies made geography“high-tech” discipl<strong>in</strong>e and the majority of professional geographers have alreadyaccepted this fact today. For the last two decades GIS found its natural place <strong>in</strong>geography curricula and the GIS skills today are an <strong>in</strong>tegral part <strong>in</strong> the professionaldevelopment of the contemporary geographers.But is it enough to simply put some GI courses <strong>in</strong>to the curriculum? Is there aneed for a new approach <strong>in</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g GI and GIS? Do we need to be “reth<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g” theplace of GI and GIS <strong>in</strong> the professional development of geographers?To answer those questions is not a simple task, but we believe that open<strong>in</strong>g suchdiscussion among European geographers is very important for the future of academicgeography and for the position of the geography and geographers <strong>in</strong> society. Theanswers of such questions are directly related with issues like “employability”, whichare of vital importance for our future as a community.Why GIS and GI are important for professional development of geographers?To answer this question, first we have to answer the question what makes GIStechnology so important? On first sight the answer is simple- because we need <strong>in</strong>formationabout the space and the different phenomena <strong>in</strong> it and GIS is very effectivetool which makes this. And because geographic <strong>in</strong>formation is a major <strong>in</strong>formationcategory, there is a need to have a specialized <strong>in</strong>formation system, which is able127

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