Public High Schools' Ability to Support GIS: An Ohio Case Study

A survey instrument was employed to examine: the present and future computer infrastructure of Ohio's public high schools; technology funding; and the GIS awareness and perceptions of selected Ohio high school educators. Results suggest that introducing computer technology into the educational framework is a priority to Ohio's administrators and teachers alike. Furthermore, the number of technology funding sources is increasing, as is the number of dollars spent on computer technology. However, computer use in Ohio's public high schools is not ubiquitous. Nearly 40 percent of all schools surveyed do not have the computer infrastructure necessary for GIS use. While this percentage is likely to decrease in the future, results point to a potentially larger problem. GIS awareness and application among those schools surveyed is quite low. Only three percent of the respondents questioned reported that GIS was in use at their school, and only 18 percent of them reported having any knowledge of GIS. This work recommends increased efforts by Ohio's college and university geography departments, as well as the state's geographic alliance chapters to disseminate GIS information to local public school educators.