Cambridge Studios will adapt interactive multimedia materials to teach geographical information systems (GIS) and develop a technological innovation that makes GIS more accessible to schools. They will produce and evaluate two prototype lessons adapted from Cambridge Studios' geography telecourse The Power of Place so that they fit into a larger introductory geographical information science course. The target populations for this are high school and community college students. This approach to GIS concepts and skills begins by involving the students in real-world problems through compelling video stories about people whose lives are shaped by spatial circumstances. They then engage the GIS students in on-line interactive exercises where they learn specific GIS knowledge as they work to solve the problems in the case study.
A key outcome of the grant is the technical innovation of an integrated approach to hybrid media storage, distributed processing, and the application of new multimedia technologies to on-line GIS. Working with key support from experts in both education and industry, they intend to make significant changes so that GIS in education can be fully distributed and utilized.
