Successes and Struggles: Evaluating Geospatial Technologies Integration in Geography Lessons using TPACK

This study examined the successes and struggles that teachers experience while incorporating geospatial technologies (GST) into their lessons. Fourteen teachers’ GST-integrated classroom lessons developed at the final stage of a semester-long graduate course were evaluated, using a TPACK-based GST-integrated lesson assessment rubric. The TPACK-related strengths and weaknesses of the lessons illuminate the challenges the participants faced while trying to incorporate GST into practice. Overall, participants were proficient in aligning the selected GST with the curriculum goals or instructional strategies targeted. However, some participants struggled with fitting all three TPACK components–geography content, pedagogy, and GST–together.