The teacher's electronic cartographic online platform as a modern tool and resource for studying geography

In the world, there is a steady trend towards the formation of professional blogging communities (for example, educational blogs (edublogs) on geographical education in the UK [5]). But it is worth noting that there are still few teachers in Ukraine who are able to create their own personal forums for sharing experiences, communicating with parents, students, etc. And the reason, most likely, is the significant time spent on mastering modern computer technologies that are rapidly developing, as well as the fact that mastering them requires high professional skills. In particular, we are talking about the exchange of experience in the use of cartographic guides on a specific subject, namely geography, and the use of experience in the implementation of GIS technologies in education.

It should be noted that currently Ukraine's educational institutions pay more and more attention to computer support of learning [6]. Even before the beginning of the pandemic, educational computer software and programmes for testing knowledge in various disciplines were used in the educational process. The active development of IT technologies and WEBmapping affected the information procurement of the educational process, and the result appeared - some stages of the educational process changed their form. More and more electronic educational publications are being created. And therefore, new requirements are being put forward to the methodological support of the educational process, which must take into account the use of interactive technologies.

In modern conditions, the so-called “cloud-oriented learning environments” are being formed, thanks to which educational mobility is strengthened, and the quality of teaching increases. The cloud-oriented learning environment is understood as an artificially built system consisting of cloud services and providing educational mobility, group cooperation of teachers and students for effective, safe achievement of didactic goals [7]. Web-based learning environments not only allow students to purposefully solve tasks, but also contain unique hints and support which facilitate the learning process itself [8]. Having analyzed the global experience of cloud-oriented educational environments, S. H. Lytvynova notes that their implementation contributes to significant cost savings and introduces innovative approaches to training [9]. An example is the Israeli project TeacherTube, which is similar to YouTube. This project gives the participants of the educational process the opportunity to use video services, to have access to a wide range of videos on various educational and social topics. In China, the educational cloud project 3Tcloud is being implemented, which is aimed at saving the budget of local governments, optimizing the distribution of resources and reducing the costs of computer maintenance [9]. In the USA, the BYOD approach is being actively introduced into the educational process, which involves students freely using their own gadgets for educational purposes. The main goal of this approach is to increase students' productivity, mobility and satisfaction, and to reduce IT costs [10].

Further we are going to analyze how the latest technologies are used in the study of geography. Until recently, teachers used only paper maps and atlases to teach geography and history, and contour maps could be used to consolidate and test knowledge. The traditional approach to creating maps assumed that a map was a final product that showed the spatial location of objects through the use of certain symbols or classifications, etc. However, the source information was not available to the users, and they could not reclassify or regroup the data, to get more information about the area being mapped [11].

The so-called electronic textbooks (e-textbooks), electronic books (e-books) [12], electronic educational guides and interactive maps (IC) are becoming effective as teachers' assistants and students' tools. In one of our previous publications, we considered the problems faced by developers when using paper maps in the creation of electronic educational guides [13].

Educational technologies in teaching modern geography are promoted by Kenneth Lynch and his co-author [14]. They provide examples of e-learning and clarify that considering best practices in educational technology will increase the universality of geography teaching in higher education institutions. Based on an overview of the pedagogical options associated with e-learning using a variety of technologies and their promotion of versatility in the use of e-learning approaches, they identify and illustrate the new spaces that have become available for teachers and learners of geography [14]. Using interactive maps and electronic cartographic guides to study geography is a significant step forward on the way to improving the quality of education.

The use of high-quality teaching aids in the teacher's work is a guarantee and one of the important conditions for the successful study of geography. The formation of the products for the electronic study of geography requires the interaction of specialists from three different specialties: geography, education, and informatics. Philip Rees and others express the opinion that limiting access to geography study materials, their hermeticity, significantly simplifies the perception of the world. Therefore, geography teachers usually want their students to work with web-based materials, using a wide range of digital resources in cyberspace that inform them about the world. They want to guide students through the resources and their use, empowering them to do their own research in the future [15]. However, the free choice of materials for learning on the Internet requires certain skills and competencies from those seeking education. Certain recommendations regarding the choice of initial materials by students and teachers when studying geography are given in the work of I. Magdas et al. [16]. The authors of this work emphasize the fact that it is necessary to master certain competencies, for example, designing a method of using digital visual materials in the electronic study of geography. This competence can be realized thanks to the use of modern electronic cartographic materials. Leading specialists in distance learning methods, teachers and methodologists have come to the conclusion that a textbook or atlas scanned or translated into electronic format cannot be considered an electronic teaching aid, since the basic principles of development of traditional and electronic cartographic manuals are significantly different. The topic of the methodology of creating these manuals remains relevant.

Stefania Palmentieri in her research [17] thoroughly analyzes the new perspectives and possibilities of e-learning geography, which have arisen with the advent of distance learning and which will arise in the post-pandemic period. She emphasizes the importance of using modern geo-information technologies, which contribute to SMART-learning (when there is independent, motivated, adaptive learning, enriched with resources and integrated technologies) and improve teachers' qualification.

In Ukraine, the development of modern electronic cartographic materials began only recently. Currently, the State Research and Production Enterprise (SRPE) "Cartography" and the Private Joint-Stock Company “Institute of Advanced Technologies” (IAT) are engaged in the creation of electronic training manuals. In the field of electronic publications, the IAT has created geography atlases, which are also presented in a certain educational online platform, but they are only copies of paper publications. The SRPE “Cartography” has created electronic teaching guides in geography, which are so far the only electronic manuals for general educational institutions in Ukraine in terms of their capabilities and content. All manuals have been approved by the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine. They were also awarded abroad. For example, the electronic educational guide "Ukraine - Physical Geography of Ukraine. The 8th grade" won the 2nd prize in the Digital products category at the 26th International Cartographic Conference in Dresden in 2013.

A very effective solution for the implementation of information and communication technologies in education is the use of existing network services, for example, Google, Amazon, Office 365 from Microsoft. With their help, the so-called “teacher's electronic cartographic online platform” (TECOP) began to be created [18, 19]. Considering the specificity of such educational subjects as geography and history, there is a need for high-quality content to fill such electronic classrooms. Currently, we are only at the stage of accumulating experience in their creation and use. The lack of methods for creating such online platforms is currently an urgent problem and needs to be worked out.

The research goals. The purpose of the publication is a detailed analysis of the content and functioning of the teacher's electronic cartographic online platform, a study of its advantages over traditional manuals in organizing and conducting geography education; presentation of pedagogical possibilities and methods of studying geography on the basis of such online platform. Of course, the achievement of the research goal correlates with the study of the experience of using various educational platforms, software products, and geography study technologies.