Latest Contributions by Kylie

Any day, the zombie apocalypse could start. Are you prepared?  May is Zombie Awareness Month, a good time to freshen up on your survival skills. We've created a checklist to get you started: Zombie apocalypse preparedness checklist. Play a game, create a zombie escape trip report, and review the key resources for survival. ... View more

Many classrooms are integrating drones and GIS technology. We want to learn about your drone and GIS use in the classroom. Is it in progress, planned, or just a wisp of an idea?  Fill out a brief survey to share where you are with the tech: https://arcg.is/0Car180  You can also see our survey results to date, and what others are doing with drones and GIS.       ... View more

Today, Wednesday April 22, 2026 is Earth Day. This year's theme is "Our Power, Our Planet," focusing on climate, renewable energy, and environmental justice.  Here are some activities to engage your class with these themes through maps: Explore power plants Follow along and explore how power plant fuels are represented within the US and globally. See the power plant fuels used in each state as well as the what could be powered using the power generated by global power plants.   Connecting maps and data: Climate change Explore temperature anomalies across the globe over time. Look at the climate groups and how some areas are changing classification.     Trees! Map trees in your community and see those mapped by others. This StoryMap let's you add trees to the map and explore those added by others using a map and a dashboard.     Read a story: Celebrate Earth Day every day! Read a story from the Celebrate Earth Day every day collection. Explore human impacts on earth, forests, diversity, sea ice, 50 years of imagery showing changes to Earth, and more. Earth Science activities for MapMaker Volcanos, seasons, biomes, rivers, mountains, and more! Explore Earth and the processes that shape it using Nationals Geographic MapMaker.     Explore in MapMaker While not an explicit activity, MapMaker has tons of maps and data about our planet that you can have students explore. What patterns can they find? Which data about Earth is surprising to them? Or maybe they just want to explore their neighborhood using imagery.   If you try one of these out, comment and let us know how you adapted it for your class and how it went. ... View more

GIS helps make streets safer, and students can now experience the workflows used in the new activity Experience GIS for transportation. This activity includes: Reading how Tampa uses GIS in its Vision Zero program, aiming to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries Answering some questions about what they've read Exploring the dashboard used by Tampa and exploring their Vision Zero data Using traffic data on a map to identify problem areas near schools (Optional) Following a tutorial to map the traffic crashes they just explored and calculating the problem areas  Here's a sneak peek of the traffic data they'll use to identify problem areas around schools: No accounts? No problem - They aren't needed Students can get hands-on using GIS for transportation without having an account. The first parts of the activity can be completed without one, including some hands-on GIS exploration. If the students have accounts, there is more in the activity that they can continue to do with a tutorial. Where does the activity fit in the classroom? Consider incorporating this activity into the following career clusters and pathways in CTE programs: Transportation Transportation systems Infrastructure planning, management, and regulation Transportation, distribution, and logistics Engineering and architecture  Construction Teaching a higher ed unit on transportation management, transportation planning and infrastructure design, or transportation planning? Your students will also benefit. None of those apply to you? You can still use the activity - we are happy to see more students exposed to GIS. Leave us a comment about how the activity worked for your students.   ... View more

Esri has a certification exam that’s appropriate for teachers, college students, and high school students with 150+ hours of training in GIS or 3-6 months of GIS workplace experience. In October this year, the exam will be updated to reflect any changes made in the software (see the exam publication schedule). A couple of things to note with the update: The updated exam will have a new URL. The updated exam will be available at https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/68eed59d078e8d4f9c5ed354/gis-fundamentals-foundation-2026/. The exam number will change to “2026” in October 2026. The updated name of the exam will be GIS Fundamentals Foundation 2026. The update becomes available, and the number changes, in October 2026. The previous number goes away and the previous exam will be retired in December 2026. If your district or state uses the number in the exam title in the approved exams list, now is a good time to remove it. We recommend not including the version number in your records and exam state lists – instead, use “GIS Fundamentals Foundation” (without any version number). If you participate in management of a state exam list, email us at schools@esri.com for additional support. The same learning materials and guidelines still apply The same learning materials for exam preparation and the same guidelines for who should take the exam will still apply. It’s just an update to the questions on the exam. Learn more about the exam on Esri Academy, follow a learning plan to study for the exam, or get tips for preparing for exam day.   ... View more

March is Women's History Month and what better way to celebrate than by introducing some female mappers to your class? Explore new StoryMaps introducing Marie Tharp and Deepsea Dawn. Watch a video of their impact and then use maps to explore their work. Marie Tharp Marie Tharp made the first scientific map of the ocean floor, supporting theories of continental drift and providing a foundation for our understanding of plate tectonics. After watching a video about her, students are guided on an exploration of tectonic plates and earthquakes. If they want more, there are resources for further learning included. Deepsea Dawn Deepsea Dawn was the first Black woman to dive to the ocean floor - and is a renowned marine geologist, geographer, and oceanographer.  Students travel with her to Challenger Deep, learn about why mapping the oceans matters, and explore on maps how the ocean floor affects currents. They even get to explore sonar data Dawn captured on her trip to Challenger Deep. Resources are also included for learning more about Dawn, Challenger Deep, and mapping the ocean floor.  Feedback appreciated If you use one of these activities, comment here to let us know how it went. ... View more

ArcGIS Online updated this week, and here are the top five things we think educators should know about: Retirement of Map Viewer Classic ArcGIS organization management updates (AI access, credit dashboard, over-assigned user types) Control the UI when opening maps Better configure printed maps Content management updates (AI for metadata, identify layers used, redirects) I've thrown in a few ArcGIS StoryMap enhancements since the last ArcGIS Online release as a bonus. And there is, of course, more. Check out the full What's new blog for all the juicy details.  1. Retirement of Map Viewer Classic It's the end of an era! Map Viewer Classic came with the introduction of ArcGIS Online in 2012, and it's expiration date is finally past. Links to maps in Map Viewer Classic now open the map in Map Viewer. Learn more 2. ArcGIS organization management updates (AI access, credit dashboard, over-assigned user types) ArcGIS Online administrators are responsible for a number of management tasks, and with this release come updates to help handle some concerns we've heard. Restrict use of AI assistants You no longer have to allow all users in your organization to use AI, or none. Custom roles and the Use AI assistants privilege control access to AI assistants. Your organization can choose who has access, for example, temporarily or permanently limiting student use. Learn more Dashboard to track credit consumption Better monitor, manage, and optimize organizational credit usage with a new credit management dashboard (beta). It provides deeper visibility into credit usage for storage, for transactions, and by members. Access it by going to the Organization page > Dashboard tab and choosing View beta dashboard at the top of the page. Learn more   Manage user types without page navigation Messaging around the over-assignment of user types now persists until resolved, and also launches a window for managing user types. Admins no longer have to navigate to the right page to fix the problem. 3. Control the UI when opening maps Keep student attention on the map and remove distractions by hiding the toolbars when opening a map in Map Viewer. Append &mapOnly=true to the end of your Map Viewer map URL to hide the toolbars. For example, use this URL to open the map "What is a Gerrymander" with the toolbars hidden: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=c2e4e89261d54a639c9d02aa9fbc9d0a&mapOnly=true   When using the Share map > Create custom link tool in Map Viewer, you can configure the map elements included with your links. And now that includes if you want a basemap gallery so that students can use different maps when exploring the data in the map. For example, this short link https://arcg.is/1Lfie44 opens the same "What is a Gerrymander" map focused on California and including a title and basemap gallery. Learn more about URL parameters and about creating custom links. 4. Better configure printed maps When printing maps, you can have the legend only show relevant items and you can choose your scale bar limit. Learn more 5.Content management updates (AI for metadata, identify layers used, redirects) Managing your content becomes easier with the introduction of AI for metadata, information on the item page that helps identify layers used, and redirects to help your user migrate from your old content to new, better items. Use AI to jumpstart your metadata Let the Item Details Assistant (beta) suggest metadata for your layer item pages and field properties. Like all AI assistants, remember that this is a good starting point - not a good final answer. Review and modify the suggestions to fill out your item page. Learn more Identify the layers used in maps from the item page See the layers used in your map, including if any are deprecated, right from the map's item page. Easily check the data you are including and if any is deprecated and should be replaced. Learn more  Provide replacements for retired ArcGIS Configurable Apps and Classic Esri Story Maps If you have an older, now retired, ArcGIS Configurable Apr or Classic Esri Story Map, you can provide a replacement item. Doing so redirects the original content to the replacement when its opened. It also provides notification to others through badging and popup messages when browsing content in your organization. Learn more Bonus: ArcGIS StoryMaps updates since the last ArcGIS Online release While ArcGIS StoryMaps updates more frequently than ArcGIS Online, here are a few changes I'm excited about that were introduced since ArcGIS Online last released in October: The StoryMaps content page includes view counts on your stories! A new format, Frames, is dedicated to short-form storytelling. (I tried it out as one format for the Presidents Day story on Home States of US Presidents. You can see the Frames version, and compare it with the full story.) Undo and redo are now available as keyboard shortcuts.  The writing AI assistant has been updated to better support your writing. And more! There are many more updates as well. Check out the full What's new blog to see the changes and enhancements across ArcGIS Online and its apps.   ... View more

There are many places to participate in an online community of practice for GIS and education. But sometimes it’s hard to get started. See places you’ll find the Esri Education Team and share with the places you value for building your network and your knowledge. Find the Esri Education Team Esri Education team can be found across a number of major social media platforms. Facebook Facebook has Esri Education groups for higher education and K-12 educators. Join the higher education community in the Esri GIS Higher Education Community group. Recent conversations have included an upcoming, free professional development conference and resources for getting started with AI.  Find K-12 educators in the Esri GIS in School Instruction group. Recent discussions with the K-12 crew include looking at global temperatures in MapMaker and students mapping safer routes to school. You’ll find a mix of teaching with maps in subject areas and teaching about GIS and how to use it. Tip: CTE educators will find discussion and resources applicable to their classes in both groups. X On X you’ll find the Esri GIS Education account, @GISEd, which shares news, resources, software, tools, and more for both higher education and K-12 educators. Recent hot topics include AI and new MapMaker classroom activities. LinkedIn LinkedIn Groups provide spaces for collaboration and sharing. Esri Education members are often found in the Esri Network, Esri GIS, Esri Training, Esri GIS for Good, Imagery & Remote Sensing, Esri Young Professionals Network groups. (You’ll also find us supporting education facilities work in the Smart Campus Operations group.) While some of these have reach outside education, they are still valuable resources for connecting with other GIS users. Tip: Looking to improve your LinkedIn presence? Check out this blog by an Esri YPN member about maximizing your impact there: Making LinkedIn Work for You. YouTube The Esri YouTube channel @esrimaps shares GIS videos from all industries, including education. There are often tutorials and tips you and your students may find useful. Esri Community If you’re reading this, you already know this one. The Education community on Esri Community includes spaces for both higher ed and K-12 discussion, as well as blogs sharing announcements, resources, and user stories. Esri MediaSpace The official Esri video library has updates and tips, event highlights, real-world GIS stories, and more. A few more Esri accounts There are a couple of additional accounts for Esri that might be of interest for educators: Instagram On Instagram, @esrigram account shares information and resources from across GIS – you’ll often find great tutorials and clips about innovative new ideas in GIS. TikTok @esri_maps shares videos of amazing maps and mapping apps to share with your students. Esri Education team In addition to group participation, some of our team members are individual participants on social media. Andrew Haglund – LinkedIn Angela Lee – LinkedIn Brian Baldwin – Esri Community - BrianBaldwin, LinkedIn Canserina Kurina – Esri Community - CanserinaKurina, LinkedIn Geri Miller – Esri Community - GeriMiller Jason Sawle – Esri Community – Jason_Sawle, LinkedIn Justin Anderson - LinkedIn Kylie Donia – Esri Community - Kylie, LinkedIn Michael Gould – Bluesky - Mgould.bsky.social Rosemary Boone – Esri Community - RosemaryBoone, LinkedIn Sarah Powell – Esri Community – SarahPowell1, LinkedIn Tom Baker – Esri Community - TomBaker, LinkedIn Your turn We have shared where to find us, but what about you? Where do you build your GIS and education network? What are your favorite places to fine tune your skills or learn new ones? Head over to GIS communities for educators and get on the map to share your recommendations. While there, explore where other educators spend their time. It’s never a bad day to make a new friend.   Have recommendations for us? We’d love to hear those, too. Comment below with places you’d like to see more from us. ... View more

In honor of our presidents, explore this StoryMap of the places they were born. In addition to their birth locations, you'll find information about their birth and death dates and places, their terms in office, and some other fun facts. A new StoryMap Frame format And for fun, try out this new StoryMap Frames format of the same story and let us know what you think. I like how well it works on smaller screens, but I'd like to improve the experience for reading more about the presidents. Requirements to use this activity, in either format A web browser. No accounts are required. ... View more

Students can now experience how GIS and drones are used in a construction workflow - Experience GIS for Construction. This activity includes:  Reading a real example of GIS and drone use in construction Answering some questions about what they've read Using drone data on a map and seeing how flight paths and control points were used  Understanding how drone data can be used to extract information (in this case, a stockpile volume) (Optional) Following a tutorial to map the drone images they just explored and calculate the stockpile volume No accounts? No problem - They aren't needed Students can get hands-on using GIS for construction without having an account. The first part of the activity can be completed without one. If the students have accounts, there is more in the activity that they can continue to do. Where does the activity fit in the classroom? Consider incorporating this activity into the following career clusters and pathways in CTE programs: Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) Architecture, construction, transportation, and manufacturing Construction and building trades Construction technologies Construction occupations Building and moving Automotive and construction technologies Teaching a higher ed unit on construction management, safety and compliance, or drone use? Your students will also benefit. None of those apply to you? You can still use the activity - we are happy to see more students exposed to GIS. Leave us a comment about how the activity worked for your students.   ... View more

Did you spend GIS Day in a K-12 classroom? The Esri Ed Team is evaluating resources to assist GIS professionals who go into K-12 classrooms. Take this survey and share your experience and needs with the Ed Team: https://arcg.is/1XPLyP1 ... View more

As MLK Day approaches, learning about the Civil Rights Movement is a common classroom topic. Our friends at the Virginia Geographic Alliance have created a great activity exploring the Civil Rights Movement through maps and primary sources. Your students will learn about key events and people leading up to, during, and since the movement. Teacher and student guides accompany the StoryMap. Teacher guide StoryMap Student guide/worksheet - PDF, Google Doc      Requirements to use this activity: A web browser. No accounts are required.                                  ... View more

AI is a great tool for generating a first draft. Take a picture with Survey123 and let AI provide a first draft of survey answers, from an image description to choosing from a list of answers. Of course, as with most AI-generated content, it’s not a reliable final answer – you’ll want to make sure to review and update the answers as appropriate. See it Watch the survey in action: In this survey, I included the prompt used to answer the question as the hint for the question. That’s not required; I did so here so you could see my prompts as examples. You can fill out the survey from the video above yourself if you have an ArcGIS Online account. Use this survey to take a picture and see the information that is populated in the survey: https://arcg.is/1TbmWW2 NOTE: Using image analysis in Survey123 isn’t available when a survey is filled out by an anonymous user. While all the questions attempt to use the image to generate a value (save the one verifying if you reviewed the answers), they don’t all always populate. AI can be a bit finicky. This is part of why all answers are reviewed before submission. Make one Follow these steps to make a similar survey of your own: Enable analysis tools, including image analysis, for your organization and in Survey123. This must be done by an administrator of your organization. The following settings are required: Turn on "Allow use of AI assistants by members of your organization' in ArcGIS Online organization settings > AI assistants Turn off "Block Esri apps and capabilities while they are in beta" in ArcGIS Online organization settings > Security > Apps Select "Enable analysis tools" in Survey123 Organization settings > Extensions > Analysis tools Create your survey in the web browser, including the image you want analyzed to populate other answers in the survey. For the questions you want to fill out based on the image, add the question and click "Edit" for the calculation. In the "Edit calculation" pane that opens: Set Source to Question Under Extract property from question set Select a question to your image question. Set Select a property to Analyze image. Under What would you like to extract from the image specify the information to pull from the image. See "Writing the image extraction prompt" below for some tips on writing a good prompt for the extraction. Add the other questions for your survey. You can have multiple questions that are populated by analysis of the same image using different prompts. Recommendation: Include a question verifying if the person has reviewed all AI-generated survey answers. Marking that question as required means the survey won’t submit until the person marks that they have reviewed the answers instead of accepting what AI provided as the final answer. Test your survey! Prompts often require a few revisions to get even better results. Writing the image extraction prompt Here are tips for writing the prompt that will be used to pull information from the image: Ask for the specific information you need; be precise and detailed. Don’t ask what the image shows. Instead, ask for the information you need from the image. For example, the example survey used the following prompt to describe the image: Describe the recyclables in the picture. Are any items not recyclable? Of what is recyclable, what materials are there? Is something unique about them? Be specific about the answer format you want. If collecting a count of items shown in the image, have your prompt include that you want a number returned. If populating a single select, specify when each single select choice should be selected. For example, the example survey used the following prompt to determine if the recyclables are indoors or outside: Is the image taken indoors or outdoors? Set the answer to "Indoors" if indoors, otherwise, set it to "Outside" Iterate on your prompt. Put your first prompt and take some test images to see how your survey is filled out. Iterate on the prompt until you are getting closer to the answers you expect. Don’t expect the same answers each time. The same image won’t always result in the same answers with AI. This isn’t something you’ve done wrong but is part of what to expect when working with AI. A warning I often find that populating fields other than a text field based on an image work sporadically. Sometimes uploading the same picture to the survey response a second time gets a number field that was empty after the first time to populate. However, deleting the image clears the fields that were populated based on analysis of it, so other answers will also be recalculated. Some use cases Here are some places analyzing images can be helpful in surveys. This list is by no means complete but is presented as a starting point for generating ideas. Describing what a picture shows to have a written record of it Filling out water quality values by taking a picture of a test strip and the chart for reading it. Analyzing if materials shown are recyclable or not. Reading street signs or other signs.   To learn more, see this Survey123 blog post about the Survey123 analysis tools. ... View more