I think whatever "aids" we use to navigate, we need to utilize these to improve our innate sense of direction. My partner and I play a little game - he uses the GPS and I only use a map and my wits (no compass) and see who gets back to camp the fastest! I usually win. The down side of using a GPS is that you can easily let your less technical navigation skills get rusty. What I found is that since my partner is directionally challenged, using the GPS has improved his success in navigating, thus he pays more attention to where he is.