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Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

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Multimedia learn<strong>in</strong>g of geographical subjectsVladimir HerberMasaryk University Brno, Faculty of Science, Institute of <strong>Geography</strong>,Kotlarska 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republice-mail: herber@sci.muni.czAbstractThe promotion of ´contact-free learn<strong>in</strong>g methods´ is a possible response to the Action Planfor the European education <strong>in</strong>itiative ‘Learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the Information Society’. It is connectedwith the use of Internet based technologies on the one hand and geo<strong>in</strong>formation technologieson the other hand. This paper presents extracts of the WWW pages devoted to themultimedia learn<strong>in</strong>g of Landscape ecology and Regional physical geography of the CzechRepublic, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g e-learn<strong>in</strong>g technologies supported by the Information system of MasarykUniversity Brno.Key words: ICT <strong>in</strong> geographical education, multimedia learn<strong>in</strong>g, www presentationIntroductionInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) may be a term that has onlybecome popular <strong>in</strong> the past few years, but the notion of ICT has a long history with<strong>in</strong>the teach<strong>in</strong>g and learn<strong>in</strong>g of geography. The use of ICT as a tool for teachers andlearners has never had such prom<strong>in</strong>ence and this is someth<strong>in</strong>g that must be addressedby all phases of education, reach<strong>in</strong>g across formal and <strong>in</strong>formal education. Despitethe importance of the technology, there are many issues for all geographers, rang<strong>in</strong>gfrom access to the technology, to identify<strong>in</strong>g its effective use and application. Moreimportantly it could be claimed that ICT is chang<strong>in</strong>g geography cont<strong>in</strong>ually, be it <strong>in</strong>the patterns of work that geographers study or the formal understand<strong>in</strong>g of how thesubject can and should be taught (Hassell 2000).ICT <strong>in</strong> geographical educationLambert and Balderstone (2000) highlight the belief that ICT has the potential toenhance students’ skills of geographical enquiry. To meet this potential often requirestwo conditions to be met:1. <strong>Geography</strong> teachers need to improve their own understand<strong>in</strong>g and competence<strong>in</strong> the power of <strong>in</strong>formation technology to support enquiry methods (such ascollect<strong>in</strong>g, record<strong>in</strong>g, analys<strong>in</strong>g and present<strong>in</strong>g data <strong>in</strong> a variety of forms – text,maps, tables and diagrams).2. Students need to develop their ICT skills beyond the basics of data handl<strong>in</strong>g(such as an ability to conduct a sound geographical enquiry utiliz<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formationskills such as selection, evaluation, <strong>in</strong>terpretation and presentation of appropriatedata).39

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