Geography is concerned with the study of various phenomena occurring on the earth's surface and their interrelationship. It is the study of physical as well as human aspects that have existed in the past and are existing today. It tries to understand the relationship between these two aspects and their spatial distribution. Study of Geography has gone through various stages with varying approaches adopted in studying it and one such approach is the use of ICT.

The use of ICT in Geography can be traced back to the era of Quantitative Revolution (1950-60s) and the subsequent use of computers for data analysis to be incorporated in Geographical studies. Though criticisms to the revolution followed and there was emergence of newer paradigms also but, it paved way to the use of computers and related techniques of analysis. This includes, data analysis, prediction, problem solving, and generation of map for spatial analysis. So, the use of ICT in Geography has graduated from mere organisation of large amount of data with computers to Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) to now, the use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance data analysis and predictions (Marianna & Theodore, 2018).

At school-level, various tools of ICT have been used for better understanding of the subject (Van der Westhuizen, Nel, & Richter, 2012; Gibson, Broadley, Downie, & Wallet, 2018). The whole discussion on pedagogical integration of ICT in teaching-learning especially, at school level came into picture probably because of these reasons: didactic nature of classroom teaching, lack of interest shown by students, poor classroom environment, and inadequate learning outcomes. Indian schooling system had been facing poor enrollments, low retention, higher dropouts, and poor learning outcomes. Classroom environment, apart from poor availability of infrastructural facilities and non-conducive household environment was found to be the contributing factors (Bhatty, 1998). Last two decades also saw a breakthrough in software industry (precisely educational), access to internet facilities and other related infrastructural facilities all over the world. Developing countries like, India still have a large section of its population deprived of these technological advancements. Nevertheless, access to these facilities can be seen in some of the remote areas which is continuously spreading. This has given opportunity to the students and teachers in different parts of the country to access those e-resources which are otherwise not available to them. Therefore, it becomes important to understand certain questions: what is ICT and how it started in India, what ICTs can be used for teachinglearning of a subject especially, Geography and how these ICTs can be effectively integrated in the pedagogy of the discipline.

All technologies that combine and allow people and organizations to interact with the digital world can together be called as Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It includes, software, hardware, communication technologies, transaction, data, internet access, and cloud computing, etc. Therefore, it comprises of processes, such as storing, creating, processing, collaborating, communicating, output source, input source, retrieving, and transmitting information.

In India, ICT in schools was included in the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) which is now a component of it (ICT, n.d.). It was first introduced in the year 2004 which was revised later in 2010. This was started in order to provide opportunities to secondary stage students to build capacity on ICT skills and to learn through computer-aided learning process. This scheme was designed as a major stimulant in order to bridge the digital divide between various socio-economic groups to overcome other geographical barriers. This scheme provides support to states/UTs (Union Territories) to establish computer labs on sustainable basis. Curricula of ICT in Education aims at realising the goals of the National Policy of ICT in School Education and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) in 2005 (CIET n.d.). It also focuses on achieving the goals of Digital India. It focuses on a broad exposure of students to technologies which further helps in enhancing creativity and imagination of the learners.

There are four components of ICT in education which are as follows:

1) Partnership with State Government and Union Territories Administrations: To provide computer aided education to secondar y and higher secondary Government and Government-aided schools.

2) Establishment of Smart Schools: These schools are set up as technology demonstrators and till now 63 smart schools have been approved.

3) Teacher-related Interventions: E.g. provision for engagement of an exclusive teacher, capacity enhancement of all teachers in ICT, and a scheme for national ICT award (for motivation).

4) Development of E-content: This is done through Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), four State Institute of Educational Technologies (SIETs), and 5 Regional Institute of Education (RIE) and also by outsourcing.

The scheme of use of ICT in schools covers all Government and Government-aided secondary and higher secondary schools of India. Under this coverage, financial aid is given to these schools for procurement of computers and peripherals, educational softwares, training of teachers, development of e-contents, internet connectivity, and for setting up of smart schools. Till now, 87033 Government and Government-aided secondary and higher secondary schools have been approved.

There are several determining factors for effective model of applying and developing ICT across the curriculum. These are: effective teaching, appropriate opportunity for pupils which enhances their capability, deployment of resources which is related to access, policy for purchasing of resources which aims at maximizing use as well as flexibility, planned use of ICT which helps in resource deployment and organization, school policies which is related to mapping and sequencing opportunities. Along with this, staff awareness is an important factor which helps in effective implementation.

In order to practice ICT, following teaching tools have been identified: interactive whiteboards, video projection units, microscopes connected to computers, data storage devices, internet searching, navigating and publishing tools, databases, email, simple audio and video software, digital cameras and audio recorders, word processing, and other softwares, etc.

The latest technological trends in ICT tools that can be used in teaching are: semantic web, real-time language translator, cloud computing, holographic display 3D, selfmanaging computing, natural user interface, ubiquitous computing, advanced thinking, data mining, cognitive computing, knowledge improving, augmented reality, sensor networks, wearable computing, 3D printing, quantum computing, and micro robot. ICTs have brought in a convergence of the media along with the possibility of multi-centric participation in the content generation and dissemination process (NCF, 2005). Their use have also been found to have generated an interesting and lively classroom environment (Naik & Teelock, 2006).

ICT in Geography means learning by providing access to large quantities of information on people, places and environments. In the study of Geography, ICT provides framework for analyzing, organizing, editing and presenting information to investigate relationships in geographical context (Martin, 2001). The multimedia software used as ICT helps to investigate geographical topics that are otherwise either too remote, too dangerous or that involve too long a timescale.

Geography as a subject especially, at the school level bases itself on what is visible on the earth or in the surrounding environment and its explanation. Teaching of Geography tries to incorporate the real world into the classroom through explanations and demonstrations. Use of images have been an important component of such explanations. Digital images and other ICT tools can further enhance the understanding of concepts and phenomena.

ICT is also the medium of dissemination of information today. It plays a pivotal role in the day-to-day life of humans. Its use in a classroom/learning environment helps in delivery of Geography in a highly engaging way (Parkinson & Vannet, 2008; Williams, 2000). For example, use of a video or small documentary on rain forests can make students learn various characteristics of a rain forest biome in a better manner. Similarly, it provides immediate access to up-to-date, topical geographical information to the interconnected world. Weather forecast and the extent of disaster caused through satellite imageries are some of the examples of it. ICT is a dynamic medium and as that, it can reinforce and deepen geographical knowledge and understanding. This is because, students sustain better concentration levels when learning using ICT (Taylor & BPRS Cambridge School, 2003; Home, 2000).

Moreover, use of ICT in the study of Geography provides the ability of handling extensive range of geographical data for exploring physical and human patterns, distributions and processes. It allows students to collect, systematize, display, communicate, and evaluate findings in a creative and personalised fashion. It further helps them in development of statistical, graphical, and spatial analysis skills.

Nature of Geography itself is ideal for the use of ICT (Williams, 2000). Teaching of Geography seems to be ineffective if ICT is not fully utilized (Parkinson & Vannet, 2008). For example, explanation of any landform with the help of real world photographs can help the students easily understand various characteristics of the landforms. Similarly, various processes, such as landform formation or peopling of India or urban sprawl, etc. becomes easily understood when explained through the use of e-content (video, animation, and temporal maps). Now, a wide range of multimedia resources on various aspects of the world are available in the form of pictures, audios, animations, and videos. This helps students in visualization of places in a much better manner. In this manner, technology has new ways of exploring the world through maps and other e-content which is more interactive, easily accessible, supported by multimedia, is of variable scale and can be integrated into a variety of media.

Geography refers to the study of various phenomena occurring on the earth's surface. In this context, explaining to her students the physiographic, socio-economic, and cultural dimensions of a mountainous region can become difficult for a teacher living in a plain area and vice-versa. Such challenges call for the use of various modes of ICTs to be used in teaching-learning of the subject (Parkinson & Vannet, 2008).

Internet and email as another set of tools help to access, research, and exchange various geographical information related to weather, environment, and culture with the peer group and also with those who are otherwise, situated in inaccessible localities. This helps in developing the concept of global citizenship and awareness of sameness, differences, and diversity in the cultures of the world. ICT also has the potential to offer opportunities to work in role and to engage with 'real-time' situations which helps in developing thinking skills among the users, a teamwork at micro-level and a sense of citizenship at the macro-level. As a medium to enhance student centered learning approach, tools of ICT can help children understand concepts by doing themselves (Berlinguer, 2012).

Tools of ICT need to be carefully integrated into Geography lessons, with a clear rationale for their use. For example, from finding information to organizing, editing and presenting that information in different ways. At initial stages, ICT helps in learning by providing access to large quantities of information on people, places, and environments. Whereas, at later stages, it helps in development, enhancement and application of functional as well as crucial skills, such as literacy, numeracy, and ICT (Humphries & Burn, 2000).

The ICT tools in Geography include general ICTs used in classrooms and specific tools for the subject. The general ICT tools have already been mentioned in the previous sections. ICTs specific to geography can be clubbed into three major heads:

1) Data visualization tools which includes Graphing applications such as infographics, and even 3D rendering tools.

2) Geospatial technologies which has Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote sensing (aerial and satellite images) in it.

3) E-content, such as audio resources, images, animations, quizzes, and games.

Representation of the Earth as a three dimensional (3D) globe provides search capabilities and the ability to zoom, rotate, and tilt the view of the Earth with the help of Google Earth, School Bhuvan and Marble. Similarly, satellite and aerial imageries aid in understanding location, terrain, drainage, underwater environments, and other geographical data. It offers tools for creating new data and a growing set of layers of data such as volcanoes and terrain.

GPS is a natural fit for geographers. This technology has developed where, it can be carried in pocket through phone and also in a car for navigation. It ranges from simple softwares that are available on-line as geospatial viewers such as Google Maps to more advanced geospatial tools. Explorer online or industry-standard software packages like, Quantum GIS (QGIS) or ArcGIS are examples of the latter. GIS enables data on physical and human environment to be brought together and analysed in an integrated way (Williams, 2000). It helps in a better understanding of such integrations and future planning of resources. For students at school level, it can be an effective tool in finding out location of various phenomena and their distribution and possible relationships between two or more phenomena through layering, etc. (Williams, 2000).

Apart from these tools, songs, images, animations, and games can also be included as ICT tools. These take advantage of spatial thinking and spatial mechanics. Animations have also been found to be helpful in providing students the opportunity to simulate or model geographical systems and surrounding environments (Jones & Rycraft, 2007; Becta, 2004). Since animations include modelling, creation, voice over, and editing etc. these give a complete exposure to various mediums of ICT and related skills. Movement of glaciers, occurrence of avalanches, landforms created by running water or moving ice or wind action etc., can be shown with the help of images and animations. Games are another form of making the subject interesting. Some of the commonly used games in Geography are, Brainpop, GeoGuessr, GeoNet and National Geography Kids, etc. Teaching with computers gives a unique teaching situations and environments which helps in realizing and understanding new challenges in the classroom. Quizzes can also be created using H5P.

Some of the other examples of how ICTs can be integrated in the pedagogy of Geography are as follows:

• Videos: On layers of vegetation in rain forests, volcanic eruptions, cloud formation, plate movements, etc.
• 3D images
• Rotation, revolution, and other processes
• Zooming in on satellite imagery at house-level
• Recording and processing of data
• Drawing of tables, diagrams, and maps
• Use of mystery boxes: Where one of the students is asked to choose one topic from the folder and then the lecture is given by the teacher on that topic
• Go Local: Students are to take a picture from locality and stick it on a big map or share online. This will improve their knowledge of the locality and the skill to visualization.
• Before-After Picture: A picture is shown to students before a lesson and they are expected to interpret that picture as to what must have happened before and what would have happened afterwards. Then that phenomenon is to be explained to the students.
• Lyrical Geography: Use of songs with physical and human features (Nature Songs by Marais and Miranda and songs by Zaret composed in 1950 & 1960s (Marais & Miranda, 1950, 1960).
• Using the concept of 'Mental Map' by using tools such as Freemind and Freeplane etc. (concept of mental map given by Peter Gould and Rodney White in 1970s). All these examples of integration of ICT in Geography aim that the geographically informed person must mentally organize spatial information about people, places, and environments. The use of ICTs in appropriate contexts in an effective manner needs an integration into the lesson plan and not just as a parallel means of communication (Home, 2000). For better understanding of integration of ICTs in teaching and learning of Geography, few examples have been taken up in this paper.

3.1 Concept of Mental Map

The concept of mental map was first introduced in Geography during the time when concepts like, Behavioural Geography came into the focus of academic discussions. Gould and White had the notion of 'our images' as the maps and models of the world we carry around with us (Pocock, 1979). Locations and characteristics of physical and human features are the basis for mental maps at local to global scales. These maps help in developing cognitive skills among children especially, visualization and sense of space. The question here arises, as to how this concept of mental map can be incorporated in teaching of Geography at school level. The maps can be drawn using ICT tools such as Freemind and Freeplane. Students can be asked to identify from memory, the following:

• Location and geographic characteristics of the most significant intersection near the student's home or school (this can include, types of buildings located at an important intersection near home or school, major landmarks used to help someone locate home or school).
• Locations of landmarks in the school building and on the school grounds (e.g., the closest fire exit to the classroom and the shortest route where the first-aid kit is kept).
• Questions about map of a country (which can include questions on countries to the north and south of that country, state that is located at the easternmost point and state which is geographically at the center of the country, etc.).

3.2 Micro-robot

Another tool that has been in use as a latest trend in teaching of Geography is a micro-robot e.g. bee-bot. A micro-robot is a robot which is equipped with simple programming and an audio-visual function. It is a unique and versatile classroom resource which engages children in a wide variety of cross-curricular learning activities. It can act as an ideal support for teaching concept of direction and early computing and programming. With a simple child-friendly layout it can act as a perfect starting point for teaching control, sequencing, directional language and algorithms. The child-friendly design makes it suitable for foundation stage children and upwards. Used as a role play and imaginative play it can help to support the development of computing skills as well as positional and directional language.

3.3 Social Media as a Professional Learning Tool

Social media has emerged as an important tool for dissemination of information and communication in the recent decade. Using social media for education requires two important considerations. One, is awareness of all relevant social media and privacy policies and secondly, it is advisable to set up a 'professional' account which is independent of a personal account. Social media tools offer instant communication and, if used appropriately they act as a great way for teachers and students to gather information for classroom use. The two most important tools of social media used today are:

FaceBook - It got started mainly for personal use but, nowadays various organizations have been using it to promote their events and work. Following are the ways in which FaceBook can be used as an ICT tool in teaching and learning in general and Geography in particular.

• Relevant organizations may be 'liked'
• By doing this their posts can be seen and their work can be kept track
• Useful posts can also be shared among colleagues
• Organizations look out to include relevant government departments, state and national geography teacher associations and any relevant local contacts

The second most commonly used social media tool is, Twitter. The micro-blogging site allows users to post short 'tweets' with links, pictures, videos, and tags. Tags preceded with a hash tag (#) are applied to tweets to sort the information that is presented or linked. They allow user to search and retrieve information easily. It is important to get familiarized with hash tags relevant to the area/s of study. Using them for teaching and learning Geography, the tags '#geographyteacher' and '#edtech' can be used to search for information and to see what other geography teachers are posting. By mastering the search tools and following active, informed and relevant users, Twitter can become a way to gather useful articles, videos, images and other resources for classroom teaching.

Integration of ICTs with Geography has other applications that have been applied in planning, allocation of resources and development. School GIS is one such initiatives of the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India to ensure universal access to schools including secondary schools within a reasonable distance of any habitation. Geographic coordinates of school along with the school information available in Unified District Information System for Schooling (UDISE) is being uploaded on the school GIS Web-enabled platform (MHRD, n.d). All states have conducted GIS mapping exercise and have shared geographical coordinates of schools with the NIC (except Jammu and Kashmir). This mapping has been linked to the UDISE data base to ensure that every school is mapped. Each such school is also backed by a detailed school report card based on UDISE information. It is expected that developing web-enabled platform about school information (Spatial and Non Spatial data) will add to the quality of planning and better utilization of resources available under Sarva Shkisha Abhiyan (SSA) and RMSA. Under this initiative, GIS mapping of 11,29,250 schools (73.41%) across the countr y has been completed so far.

Integration of ICT in various disciplines aims at enhancing the understanding of a subject and the efficiency to work. Fast workability, ability to analyse large amount of data at one time, ability to vet information in a variety of media, advantage of updating the data (and information) and interactivity are some of the advantages that the use of ICT in studying Geography has. All these characteristics help in enhancement of learning and the learning outcomes (Martin, 2001; Gibson et al., 2018). Access to geographical information has traditionally been with the help of classroom teachings, textbooks, other books, newspaper clippings, primary and secondary research, field surveys, maps, photographs, and few videos. The modern ICT tools like animation, GIS, GPS, gaming, and micro-robot can act as supplementary resources to the existing resources. These tools provide greater interactivity, precision and enhanced understanding through 'what if' situations (modelling and simulations).

ICT offers immense opportunities to students to make their own choices about the type and extent of information they want about a particular topic, i.e. a student-centric approach to education. Here, there is lesser degree of enforcement of understanding and choice of information of teacher on them (Martin, 2001). But, awareness of the quality, reliability, and biasness of source of information need to be generated among the students and teachers. The pupil-teacher relationship can also be facilitated through the use of ICT (Beastall, 2006). As mentioned earlier, the use of technology is not enough rather, it has to be based on an understanding of its pedagogical value (Beastall, 2006). In this absence, schools with these tools of technology will not be more than Ritzer's 'Cathedrals of Consumption' (Ritzer, 2005; Beastall, 2006) with mere display of technological innovations.

The postmodern teaching and learning environment has the potential to attract young people through familiar language, multimedia and stimulating digital resources. Kids of the twenty-first century possess a natural bent towards digital and technical ability. These skills need to be developed in a manner where, they can utilise such skills into their education. The digital skills need to be developed in a manner so as to get transformed into adult resources. For this, a strategic pedagogy integration, planning, and skill support to teachers is needed for effective use of ICT in education.

The effective use of modern ICT tools in Geography and pedagogical integration aims at enhancing the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles of students and teachers. It caters to various approaches of learning i.e., discovery learning, learning by understanding, and learning by association (Naik & Teelock, 2006). This means adoption of constructivist approach rather than just being behavioral. Role of ICT is through effectively designed materials which should be used in teaching-learning of Geography or any other subject. There should be construction of digital teaching resources with better access to resources for teachers and students. Attention should be paid in improving students' abilities in using ICT technologies and adapting to the ICT learning environment (Lu, Tsai, & Wu, 2015). But, the important point that needs to be continuously kept in mind while propagating ICT and its pedagogical integration in Geography or any other subject is that, it should be taken as a supportive mode of teaching-learning.

Greater amount of research and training needs to be done in the field of development of e-resources for efficient utilisation of the medium of ICT. The manner in which pedagogical integration of ICT is to be done in education in general and Geography in particular, is an important part of it. Mere display of such tools in the classroom, without effectively embedding them in the lesson plan and teaching may result in deviation from the basic aim of using ICT. It can be reiterated here, that the use of such technology should not result in making the schools 'Cathedrals of Consumption' (Beastall, 2006). Impact-based studies on students and teachers on a regular basis is a necessary area where, further research needs to be done. Therefore, it can be said that though Geography as a subject seems to have benefited from the use of ICTs in teaching-learning but, their current use needs to be evaluated and modified for even better results.