ORBi UMONS: How effective is Google Earth Pro in teaching and learning geography to high school students? - 2026

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How effective is Google Earth Pro in teaching and learning geography to high school students?

PASCU, Marioara

2026 • In Computers and education open., 10, p. 100362

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12907/56086

DOI
10.1016/j.caeo.2026.100362

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Keywords :

GeographyCompetencesSpatial skillsSpatial thinkingArgumentationGoogle Earth Pro

Abstract :

[en] This research aimed to assess the effectiveness of using Google Earth Pro in teaching and learning Geography on school results and on the development of three core skills: spatial skills, argumentation of an explanatory approach and establishing correlations/sequences between elements and phenomena in nature and society. The research methods used were questionnaire-based surveys, factorial statistical analysis and statistical tests to compare proportions and means. The research results showed that the experimental group using Google Earth Pro achieved better results in the summative test, expressed both in terms of the sample mean and the minimum, maximum and pass rates. Factor analysis—Principal Component Analysis—demonstrated that the results of the summative test were dependent on the use of Google Earth Pro and that this digital tool had a significant positive impact on the development of the three specific skills. The benefits of Google Earth Pro for learning Geography and developing fundamental Geography skills, as highlighted by the results of this research carried out with a target group of lower secondary school students (14–16 years old), opens new avenues for reflection on the need to introduce GIS tools in the teaching of Geography in secondary education at an earlier age, as students of the current generation are capable of meeting this challenge.

Disciplines :

Education & instruction

Author, co-author :

PASCU, Marioara ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Ecole de Formation des Enseignants > Service Education et Sciences de l’apprentissage

Language :

English

Title :

How effective is Google Earth Pro in teaching and learning geography to high school students?

Publication date :

June 2026

Journal title :

Computers and education open.

eISSN :

2666-5573

Publisher :

Elsevier BV

Volume :

10

Pages :

100362

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S2666557326000340?httpAccept=text/xml

Research unit :

B101 - Education et Sciences de l’apprentissage

Research institute :

R150 - Institut de Recherche sur les Systèmes Complexes

Funders :

MSCA

Funding number :

Marie Skłodowska Curie Action grant under H2020, grant number 101034383

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since 29 April 2026

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