What can my GIS - software do for me? What should it be able to do?

Although the number of teachers which plead for an at least episodic use of Geographic Information Systems at middle and higher schools has increased continuously throughout the last years, due to the wide spectrum of different approaches the framework conditions for a more intensive usage of geo-technological software are still not elaborated clear enough. Particularly in German speaking countries the problems of the amount of the toolbox - functionalities which a "ready-for-school" GIS - package should provide and the methods of implementation are still discussed controversially. This contribution tries to answer the question which tools in which intensity are needed from the toolboxes of a standard commercial GIS to enrich the traditional GW (Geography and Economics) - lessons appropriately. To simulate nearly real life scenarios the contents used as central topics within this study coincide with the content of the most recent editions of the GW textbooks Austrian students use at school. Therefore the results presented in this paper can be seen as indicators for the need and importance of certain tools from the GIS – repertoire.