I recently came across an article in National Geographic which speaks to the idea of Geo-Literacy. The premise of Geo Literacy is simple; We are living in a global world, we are inter-connected and we need to learn about each other. Whether it for the purpose of relocating, travel, doing business, gaining more insight into other cultures of just understanding the world more, it is important that we do.
In the article titled Geo-Education for the 21st century, written by Daniel C. Edelson, for National Geographic, Geo-Literacy is described as preparing individuals for the challenges of the 21st century. For one to be considered Geo-Literate they must have a good understanding of these areas: Interactions, Interconnections and Implications.
Interactions: A geo-literate individual understands the social, political and cultural systems of a society.
Interconnections: A geo-literate individual understands how the social, political and cultural systems connect people.
Implications: A geo-literate person will use those understandings to make well-informed decisions.
The three components of Geo-literacy are:
- · Understanding of human and natural systems
- · Geographic reasoning
- · Systematic decision-making
I believe Geo-Literacy has a place In the world of connectivism, open courses and MOOCs, . TechnologIy not only allows us to connect but to also learn new things. We have the opportunity to interact with more people and make new discoveries easily; to understand that the decisions we make not only impacts us but can have far reaching implications to others elsewhere in this world. It is often our choice about how much we choose to engage or take in but make no mistake the means are there.
By Daniel C. Edelson, Ph.D.Tuesday, September 25, 2012...Geo-education is about preparing people to make the important decisions we will all face in the 21st century. At National Geographic, we call people who are prepared to make these decisions geo-literate.Geo-literacy requires three kinds of understanding......Read on....More
Source: National Geographic
