GIS and educational and instructional challenges

. This paper discusses the educational and instructional challenges posed by the rapid development and acceptance of GIS as a tool for applied spatial analysis. Many commentators have noted the mismatch between the sophisticated capabilities of Spatial Analysis/GIS and the techniques that are actually employed in practice. It must be recognized that there is a challenge to educators to overcome this gap. This mismatch is especially apparent in the case of social science applications. This paper (a) discusses implications for training both future users and developers of GIS tools; (b) includes some observations on the tensions between the demand for skills (to satisfy certain applications) and the potential diversion of effort and talent from fundamental research; and (c) offers some thoughts for ways in which progress might be made.