City/State of School, School District, or Group: Minnesota Department of Education. The workshop was taught at Brooklyn Park City Hall, where I am the GIS Intern.
Grade level of students you or your educator collaborator work/worked with: I worked with teachers from various parts of Minnesota.
Subject/topic of class/group you assisted your collaborator with: I was co-teaching a workshop for Minnesota teachers about ArcGIS Online sponsored through U Spatial. The title of the workshop was "Mapping 101," and I co-taught it with John Nerge, the GIS Coordinator at the City of Brooklyn Park.
Approximately how many students were engaged in GIS activities through this collaboration: We had two workshop sessions held at Brooklyn Park City Hall. There were three teachers at the first workshop, and about seven at the second. The spots that were not filled by teachers were opened to City Staff, and by doing so allowed us to have full "classroom" each time.
How did you connect with your collaborator? Scott Freburg reached out to John Nerge, the GIS Coordinator at the City of Brooklyn Park, and asked us to teach the workshops. I am the GIS Intern for the City of Brooklyn Park, one of two people in the Brooklyn Park GIS Department.
Describe your collaboration process. There were two workshops, one on July 13, 2016 and the second on July 19, 2016, for four hours each.
Describe the tasks you assisted your collaborator with. The skills that were assisted were software skills and topical data. The workshop consisted of presentations about the fundamentals of GIS and ArcGIS Online, demonstrations, and time to complete exercises. Over the 4 hour workshop, Minnesota teachers were able to create an ArcGIS Online account, start a web map, learn to upload .csv files, manipulate symbology, and begin using spatial tools. This workshop was a springboard for the educators to become familiar and aware of the technology available to their classrooms.
What available resources, if any, did you use or help your collaborator use to implement GIS in K-12 education? We used the materials provided by U Spatial through the Minnesota Department of Education. None of the resources available through the GeoMentors website were utilized.
Did you develop any new educational material or GIS activities through your collaboration? We did not, as the materials were already provided for us.
What did you gain from the experience? What do you think your educator collaborator and/or the students gained? I gained the satisfaction of sharing the splendor and power of GIS to other professionals. It was really wonderful to see the teachers excited to explore the possibilities that GIS could bring to their classroom. The teachers gained the basic skills to begin their relationship with ArcGIS Online, and hopefully the momentum to share it with their students.
If your GeoMentoring engagement activities were documented through a classroom blog, school website, group’s social media post, newspaper or other media, please provide the websites of those posts. No social media was utilized for this Geomentoring engagement, but it was advertised for teachers to sign up for CEU's. Below is the site where the description is found: http://www.education.state.mn.us/MDE/SchSup/SchTech/GISinK-12/index.html
Any additional comments about your experience? I really enjoyed sharing my passion for GIS with those who knew little to nothing about it. It was also wonderful to know it was being used for a very good cause. I would definitely engage in GeoMentoring again!
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