Joint ICA Commissions Seminar: Internet-Based Cartographic Teaching and Learning: Atlases, Map Use, and Visual Analytics

Summary

This edited volume documents the Joint ICA Commissions Seminar on “Internet-Based Cartographic Teaching and Learning: Atlases, Map Use, and Visual Analytics,” held at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid on 6–8 July 2005 as part of the 22nd International Cartographic Conference. Bringing together five commissions of the International Cartographic Association, the seminar examines how web technologies, geographic information systems, multimedia, mobile computing, and interactive visualization were transforming cartographic education, atlas production, map use, and spatial communication. The contributions span curriculum design for Internet cartographers, open-source environments for education and research, search-engine mapping, distance and problem-based learning, field instruction with mobile computers, and institutional responses to the transition from traditional cartography toward integrated geospatial solutions. A major theme is the educational and technical development of national, regional, and school web atlases. Case studies from Canada, Quebec, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and other regions discuss atlas information systems, web-atlas engineering, cybercartography, animated maps, thematic mapping, military-history atlases, and the relationship between printed and digital products. Rather than treating new media as an automatic replacement for paper, several studies investigate their complementarity and compare web atlases, static maps, and animations in terms of reading, comprehension, usability, and learning effectiveness. Children’s cartographic cognition and spatial communication form another central strand. Research addresses pupils’ and teachers’ use of thematic maps, children’s preferred modes of spatial expression, world-map cognition, and map-supported instruction in Earth science and extraterrestrial geography. The volume also emphasizes user-centred evaluation and responsible design: usability methods, observation of computer-based mapping, cognitive specifications, modelling reliability, controlled flexibility in online systems, and the semiotics of WebGIS are presented as means of ensuring that technically sophisticated applications remain intelligible and educationally meaningful. Further contributions illustrate emerging applications, including augmented reality for landscape assessment, Internet visualization of seismic events, interoperable web services, interactive layer styling, spatial-information sharing, and sensor- or infrastructure-oriented geospatial technologies. Collectively, the proceedings portray cartographic learning as an interdisciplinary, international enterprise linking pedagogy, cognitive research, visual analytics, software engineering, and geographic information science. They argue implicitly for curricula that combine enduring cartographic principles with practical digital competencies, critical evaluation, and sensitivity to different users and learning contexts. The author biographies and multinational participant list further demonstrate the seminar’s broad professional network and its role in fostering collaboration among universities, government agencies, schools, and mapping organizations.