In 2001 the state of South Dakota embarked on a progressive, statewide technological initiative in K-12 education, providing teachers with the tools and skills to teach students how to use Global Positioning Systems GPS) and Geographic Information Systems GIS). The initiative was well received and included many teachers across the state. Recently, however, the state stopped actively supporting teachers in continuing education and introductory training in GPS/GIS. In this thesis the author sought to: 1) review published research pertaining to the use of GIS/GPS in the classroom and its effects on student achievementï¼› 2) investigate the history and current status of the South Dakota GPS/GIS initiativeï¼› 3) evaluate the South Dakota teachers who have implemented GPS/GIS in their classroom, identifying selected characteristics, needs for support, obstacles to using the technology and perceptions of GPS/GIS and its educational valueï¼› and 4) measure the attitudinal effect GPS/GIS technology has on one group of World Geography students in South Dakota. It is the hope of the author to shed light on the current situation with the use of GPS/GIS technology in secondary classrooms in South Dakota and provide appropriate recommendations to revitalize the states GPS/GIS initiative.