Social evolution, globalization, and advances in technology are making it increasingly necessary to offer complete and comprehensive teacher training. This training should produce citizens who are concerned about the planet and its future. These values are embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the breadth of which allows them to be integrated into the secondary school curriculum for most subjects. To construct a complete teacher training model, the following have been considered: previous studies based on qualitative and quantitative methodologies (the Delphi method and questionnaires for ‘expert’ teachers), the teaching experience of the authors, the action research methodology, and validation by other teachers who use technologies and are concerned about sustainability issues. The result is a teacher training model that is in line with UNESCO’s sustainability competencies and based not only on technology, the scientific content of the subject to be taught, and didactics (pedagogy), but also on education in sustainability and the SDGs that need to be integrated. This approach is expected to produce changes in citizens’ attitudes that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and lead to the teachers feeling positive about their teaching experiences. However, a systematic application of this approach in classrooms and an assessment of its learning results are still pending.

The increase in geoinformation and its integrated use in cloud-based geographic information systems, or Web GIS, facilitates visualization of data and helps to improve our understanding of socio-economic factors as well as the natural landscape. Effective application of these tools in the classroom requires a change in teachers’ pedagogies. Thus, a review of existing pedagogies and a brief questionnaire given to teachers with lots of experience of using Web GIS, was carried out in order to identify how they were integrating online interactive maps into their teaching to make learning more effective. The results led to the development of a series of learning scenarios, or vignettes. These all use the visualization provided by online maps, to encourage more critical and reasoned learning. They also contribute to educating for sustainability, as they highlight trends and interrelationships that are intended to promote transformative action, beyond the theoretical knowledge and application of the Sustainable Development Goals. Direct observation in teacher training classrooms and detailed discussion over each result obtained has validated a teaching model. To support the use of these materials and the application of the model, a training course has been designed for teachers who are new to the profession or those who are interested in integrating these tools into their teaching. To date, trainee teachers who have been introduced to the model have expressed their satisfaction with this new way of working in secondary classrooms.

Teachers’ increasing use of cloud-based Geographical Information Systems (Web GIS) in an interactive way in Spanish secondary schools highlights the importance of researching the effectiveness of this new approach. This study employs action research qualitative methods, through direct teacher observation, and quantitative methods to analyze student grades following first use of Web GIS. Specifically, the research involved: a) Design: organizing a geopolitics’ lesson plan, with seven tasks, for a sample comprising 92 students at K10 level (15-16 years old); b) Comparison: contrasting the results of a traditional written exam following the use of two technologies (namely, Web GIS and a conventional PowerPoint presentation); c) Data collection: analyzing quantitative data via a descriptive and inference study of grades (involving a geopolitics exam; geography and history final term; Grade Point Average -GPA-; and the average grade of the entire term’s 10 curriculum subjects); d) Direct observation: assessing class interactions in which students are assisted with both technology (Web GIS or PowerPoint) and the clarification of concepts. The results demonstrate that Web GIS is a useful learning tool in geopolitics, with students getting better grades and no significant gender differences. Direct observation confirms how Web GIS technologies engage students; assist ‘ubiquitous learning’ from any place and at any time; improve their understanding of data analysis and spatial concepts; and enhanced digital competencies. Highlights:-Web GIS engage students in learning geopolitics and enable them to obtain better grades.-Students improve their understanding of spatial concepts using Web GIS.

In today´s world, education systems must adapt to stay connected with the real world. Three key elements meet these demands: the interaction between disciplines and their varying levels of complexity, the competency-based approach of the Spanish education system, and the use of web-based GIS tools for teaching and learning with a transdisciplinary approach. In this context, Spain offers a promising context to explore the integration of these elements, given its educational reforms and digital strategy. However, there are no studies in secondary schools in Spain integrating these elements. The objective of this research is to demonstrate that web GIS serves as a valuable resource for engagement in the real world, representing information on maps for teaching and learning within a transdisciplinary competency-based framework. The methodology applied follows the action-research model mainly based on classroom observations and students’ satisfaction surveys. Several stages have been considered: a) planning: identifying a relevant problem or topic to improve learning outcomes; b) action: class intervention by collecting necessary information, categorizing information, analysing the problem, formulating hypotheses and creating a layer for a collaborative map; c) results and interventions assessments. Following this methodology, three interventions are presented. The sample is a convenience sample with 187 students aged 15 to 18 (ISCED 3: 4th-year Compulsory Secondary Education -K-10, ages 15–16- and ISCED 4: 2nd-year Baccalaureate -K-12, ages 17–18-), from a Spanish educational institution. It can be stated that the collaborative use of web-based GIS in secondary education enhances engagement, representation of information, and increases interaction. All these actions improve sustainability, digital, learning to learn and citizenship competencies and promote transdisciplinarity.

Existe una preocupación cada vez mayor sobre la veracidad de las noticias ofrecidas por los medios y su correlación con las decisiones y el comportamiento de la ciudadanía. Así, se ve necesaria la resiliencia ciudadana frente a la desinformación. En el presente trabajo se presentan distintas intervenciones de aula, empleando el método investigación-acción en los niveles de 3.º y 4.º de E.S.O. (14/16 años) en dos centros educativos. Se muestra cómo es posible detectar la desinformación desde el área de Geografía e Historia en la enseñanza secundaria y dotar al estudiante de herramientas para analizar la información en las redes sociales y medios de comunicación. El alumnado ha analizado gráficos, mapas, textos y otra información procedente de los medios de comunicación y de las redes sociales relacionados con temas concretos del currículo. Los resultados obtenidos mediante observación directa, la aplicación de rúbricas y los cuestionarios respondidos validan la hipótesis de que el alumnado de secundaria distingue la desinformación presente en las noticias y la necesidad de verificar la información recibida si se ha entrenado para ello, y sensibilizado en esta necesidad.