Geography Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspectives on Multimedia Technology and Environmental Education

Abstract

Multimedia technology (MT) is now widely used in primary and secondary classrooms and has excellent potential for environmental education. The discipline of Geography has strong synergies with environmental education. The paper uses the Q methodology to investigate the responses of pre-service geography teachers regarding the use of multimedia in environmental education (EE). The viewpoints of respondents were clustered into three broad perspectives relating to the use of multimedia: Perspective 1: the use of multimedia is regarded as valuable but difficult to apply; perspective 2: the use of multimedia is rewarding and practicable; perspective 3: the use of all types of multimedia is seen as highly valuable, although in the case of GIS the attitude is more equivocal. All three perspectives align with the idea that MT can improve EE, although the respondents suggest it cannot be a direct replacement for fieldwork. While all three perspectives are consistent with the view that multimedia teaching has many functional advantages in relation to environmental education, concerns are expressed regarding teachers’ capacity to fulfill its potential. The authors suggest that understanding these perspectives can help improve pre-service teacher education and advance environment education in middle school.

Evaluation of story maps by future geography teachers

“…However, as this is a constantly evolving and changing field, universities and research institutes should also offer geography teachers additional training courses focused on new possibilities for using GIS technologies. Guo et al (2020) also argue that the biggest barrier to the use of multimedia technologies in teaching geography is the insufficient skills of teachers. However, in order for a geography teacher to be innovative and use GIS technologies, a change in teaching materials is also needed (Ridha et al, 2020).…”

Characterization of Environmental Education in Spanish Geography Textbooks

“…Given its cross-curricular nature, environmental education should be present in all subject areas and in all levels of compulsory education [16,17]. This cross-curricularity is increasingly linked to the new technologies and their penetration in schools [18]. Numerous elements of environmental education form part of the natural science curriculum, examples being energy, chemical changes, ecosystems, or health, while others are more typically studied under the umbrella of social sciences, with topics such as space, landscape, population, the economy, and natural resources.…”