Students often are taught the "three R's" in school - reading, writing and 'rithmetic.
However, Shawn Hutchinson, associate professor in geography, said spatial literacy should be added because it is a basic skill.
"It is important to know where we are, if we need to describe our surroundings, what road we should take, getting from point A to point B, to find where crime is, and why it is where it is," Hutchison said.
"We have the tools we now need to train the people on how to use GIS."
K-State's geographic information system steering committee provided information at GIS Day on Wednesday afternoon in Union 207. GIS Day is a global event and part of the National Geographic Society's Geography Awareness Week, which is this week.
Hutchinson, who also is the director for K-State's Geographic Information Systems Spatial Analysis Laboratory, said GIS is what makes a Global Positioning System work.
GIS is sophisticated software that uses spatial analysis and geographical visualization to produce maps, he said.
"When someone puts in a location on their GPS, what locates the directions, what finds the directions and is able to visualize them is GIS," he said.
John Harrington, professor in geography, said GIS improves technology, which helps people make better decisions and being better with knowing their surroundings.
"GIS takes advantage of technology," Harrington said. "If the film industry is making advances in 3-D, then GIS will take advantage of that and try to improve their digital imagery to making it 3-D."
The committee's mission statement is to communicate, coordinate and expand GIScience throughout the K-State campus. The group would like more students to attend the group's once-a-month meetings starting Jan. 24, 2008.
Eric Bernard, associate professor for landscape architecture, said the day was a way to celebrate the value of GIS and what it does for technology.
"The goal for today was trying to get more people interested and informed of what GIS is," Bernard said.
Be the first to comment on this story