Spatial Data Infrastructures as an Education Resource in Secondary Education in Spain and Argentina

Abstract

Since the early 90s Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI’s) have attracted considerable attention from governments, private sector, academic organizations, etc. But, above all, the advance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has contributed to add new perspectives to the world of SDI’s, thereby facilitating the access and exchange of Geographic Information at different levels, by means of its standardization and interoperability. Latin-American countries stand at different development levels with regard to the implementation of their SDI’s, both at national level and at local or regional government levels. Considering the growth perspectives of SDI’s, it is necessary to contribute to a wider diffusion of their potential and use in different environments, both public and private. In this context the education environment appears as an area where action is needed. Taking into account that current education should bring students closer to the new ICT tools, SDI´s appear to be a highly valuable education resource in order to deal with Geographic Information related contents in the context of secondary education. In order to consider this possibility, an assessment is needed of the students’ academic competence and the basic common contents of the curriculum, so that the subjects where SDI’s are to be used as an educational resource can be identified. In order to build appropriate foundations on which to develop a future proposal in which SDI´s are considered as an education resource to deal with Geographic Information related contents, a study has been carried out of the secondary education in 2 countries that show great differences in SDI development: Spain and Argentina.