An online tool for Schematic Mapping in Geography education

Sketch maps, or croquis, are a tool widely applied in research and education. In geography secondary education in particular, sketch maps are helping the pupils to geographically structure information, and to distinguish between main and side issues. Various researchers (Schee 2017, 2020, Plomp 2013) have concluded that this works best if the students create their own sketch maps, because it trains their geographic thinking and helps them connect the knowledge and skills they acquired to the curriculum.
In this research, a web-based sketch map making tool was created, based on requirements from didacticians, teachers and pupils active in secondary school geography education in The Netherlands. The requirements were acquired from literature research, surveys and an extensive focus group session. A prototype tool was created and tested in four sessions in different classroom settings. The tool was aimed at providing not only basic drawing functionality for creating maps, but also to provide flexibility to change and correct mistakes made easily. Also, the tool provides the possibility for teachers to create assignments, for different levels of pupils, each with their specific tool settings.
In this paper we present the design process of the tool and discuss its potential for geography education.