The purpose of the article is to study the history of the implementation of geographic information technologies in the process of teaching geography at school, the readiness of Ukrainian schools in this process and comparing the achievements of Ukrainian and foreign education systems regarding the use of geographic information technologies in the process of teaching geography.
Main material. The use of geographic information systems (GIS) during the teaching of geography at school is an issue that is essential for the further development of education. The challenges faced by society, such as the consequences of scientific and technological progress, globalization, climate change, require the training of specialists who will cope with the tasks that the modern world dictates. To train specialists of a new generation, a specialized education is needed, which will give students new content with the help of new teaching methods. Geography as an educational discipline that develops spatial thinking and understanding of the world as a complex system is at the forefront of changes in the educational process. Therefore, in order for students to effectively use material adapted to the conditions of the modern world at geography classes, new methods are needed to help this problem be solved, and above all, the use of geographic information systems. As the analysis of foreign experience and our study on the use of GIS in the educational process with geography showed, the world faces common problems: overloading students, inability (unwillingness) of teachers to learn new technologies, financial and communication problems.
In order to introduce geoinformatics methods and skills in working with GIS into the educational process from geography, it is necessary to have, in our opinion, at least four components: 1) the legislative base; 2) use of the best world experience; 3) training of specialist geographers competent in the field of work with geographic information systems; 4) appropriate software and hardware for schools to work with GIS.
Conclusions and further research. Polls and experiments of domestic and foreign researchers have shown the effectiveness of GIS as a method in teaching geography in terms of increasing the academic performance of students and increasing the level of assimilation of knowledge. The SWOT analysis of the use of geographic information systems as educational technologies showed problems common to Ukrainian and foreign schools, such as the high cost of software, the lack or lack of technical equipment, and insufficient teacher training. At the same time, the results of the survey indicate that abroad the biggest problem is the lack of motivation of teachers, while in Ukraine the main obstacle is the high cost of logistics.
It is promising to conduct a survey of geography teachers at the all-Ukrainian level in order to obtain a complete picture regarding the willingness to introduce the GS in the educational process, in particular on geography.
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