Hydroweb: an Open Source educational WebGIS platform for the understanding of spatio-temporal variations of meteorological parameters at the watershed scale

GIS is an interdisciplinary technology able to support high-level thinking and spatial reasoning. It allows students to visualize complex real world problems, and supports multiple modes of learning. But GIS remain unused at the primary school level. Indeed, there is a gap between a declared interest in GIS technology and their effective slow rate of implementation in classrooms. The complexities of desktop GIS are possible brakes on their adoption in schools. They can be cut by using web-based GIS solutions. Indeed, internetbased mapping provides an invaluable way for establishing GIS technology in the primary and secondary education (“K-12 education community” in USA and Canada), while avoiding the main barriers associated with desktop GIS. Such tools can support standard methods of teaching and learning while providing basic analysis tools for studying and exploring geographic or other scientific data in the classroom. This kind of platform is ideal for many teachers and 12-14 years old children that are not able to spend the time and energy required to run desktop GIS.