Latest Contributions by BrianBaldwin

This next semester, your students won’t even need to create their own maps or think critically about their work. Esri added in an ‘easy’ button, in the form of AI Assistants. With agentic workflows, you can just hit ‘go’ and send your students out onto the campus green!   Obviously... that's not the case. There are a lot of amazing AI tools and functionality available, but they need to be used with clear foresight and intention, to ensure they align with your classroom objectives. AI Assistants are here across a wide-range of Esri’s tools and they can be easily worked into the classroom in some really fun and engaging ways. This blog is going to explore 2 ways that you can use the AI Assistants, the first being Esri’s Documentation, and the 2nd with scripting in the Map Viewer. These tools can easily be incorporated into either introductory or advanced classes/coursework. The most exciting aspect of this technology, are the ways that it can be used to ‘push’ higher level inquiry and explorations, from spatial fundamentals, up to advanced scripting and cartography. Getting Started First things first, to use the AI Assistants across ArcGIS, you need to enable them. Currently, the only way to use the AI Assistants is with an ArcGIS Online organization wide boolean toggle. It’s currently a big ‘Yes or No’ for all users. Administrators have the ability do this from Organization, Settings, AI Assistant settings, which you can see a screenshot of below:   There has been a lot of feedback provided to the product teams that a more ‘granular’ level of control/access would be preferable. I don’t have a timeline yet, but I can foresee this capability staying at the global level, but some finer grain control also being available and configurable for user roles. Without this toggle being enabled, a user will not have access to any of the following examples I am about to walk through and highlight. "What’s a GIS?" "What's a buffer?" The most basic classroom use case for the AI Assistants, will probably come in the form of the documentation assistants. The goal with these, is to provide a natural language way for users to ask questions. When a user is logged into their organization (which has the AI Assistants enabled), they will then have the ability to interact with the documentation assistant.   What are some of the ways that students can interact with and use this tool? I think a great example of this is really just a quick comparison… In the search bar, I entered in a basic query: ‘how do I create a buffer?’, and the results that I get back are… far from optimal. The result is shown below. It includes a link to the Maplex Label Engine??? Huh???   To be fair, there is a lot of great content in the Esri documentation (not to mention ArcNews, ArcWatch, Esri Blogs, etc.), but it can be really hard (and frustrating) for users to find exactly what they are looking for. If I ask the same question of the Documentation Assistant, it returns a clear set of instructions:   I also asked a follow-up question, ‘Can I do this in ArcGIS Online? Show me how.’ This also provided a clear, step-by-step guide for performing the buffer operation. If students are working on labs or trying to figure out some basic GIS process, I think the documentation assistants can be a real asset for instructors and TA’s. I know that I have answered a lot of 11th hour questions related to some pretty basic stuff (where I had hoped students would use each other or discover an answer through documentation or message boards). The other aspect of the results that I appreciate is the list of references. With each response, a list of references and links where users can find lessons, blogs, and other documentation related to the query is returned. Something important to note, is that the assistant will provide results that fall outside of Esri Documentation, so blogs by John Nelson, Heather Smith, and other thought leaders at Esri can also be included in results. Which I think is great! Coding Jumpstart One of the places that I am the most excited about, are the coding assistants. When I look at my own uses of LLMs, this has been the most consistent and helpful place for using these tools. I think it’s important for students to understand and grasp how coding works and understand some of the foundational elements of coding and scripting, we have obviously already passed a placed where students need to understand how to code from scratch – it’s simply not the case anymore. I have been excited about Arcade for years now, because there is so much potential and value in how users can employ the scripting language for structuring data, getting pop-ups, dynamically modifying styles, but for students with no background or experience in scripting, it can be really daunting. The best example of this is with the Map Viewer. I still see thousands (maybe an exaggeration) of examples that use the default styles, which is most often the fields list. This is just painful.   For me, the coding assistants will allow you to dive deeper with students more quickly. “What information are we trying to present in the map?” “What is the purpose of the map?” “Does this pop-up help us?” “How could we improve it?” Rather than having students struggle with Javascript syntax… they can start using natural language to design an impactful result. From the MapViewer, when I go to edit my pop-up, I have the ability to add an Arcade element:   Users that feel more comfortable, can use the Profile variables and Functions tools, to build out their script. The Arcade window will provide inline suggestions, report errors, and in general, is a really easy to use user interface. But, there is also a newer option on the right-hand side, which gives users the ability to use the AI Assistants:   I have had a lot of success with this tool and have been really impressed with the results. With all of these tools… the caveat is that you need to understand your data and have the ability to interpret the results. In the following example, I created a pop-up that included a bar chart with different categories broken down by age, normalized by the total population. My prompt was the following: “Create a BAR CHART showing the breakdown for the different age brackets for those in poverty - with all of the numbers displayed as a percentage normalized by the total population” Some things to note with this prompt. I was not very clear about the columns and fields to use. I didn’t provide specifics for the values to be returned (number of places, etc. ). There are probably a dozen other ways that this prompt could have been improved, which offers a great opportunity for a comparison of prompts and results between students. What prompt resulted in the best outcome? How many iterations did the best results take? Did students refine their results with their own knowledge of CSS and HTML? Did they take their results to a different LLM? Here is my result:   The point being, the coding assistants can streamline a lot of the ‘grunt’ coding work for students, but they don’t erase the need for critical thinking. To be honest, I tried this same prompt on a dataset that didn’t include any poverty data. Initially, it returned an error, but after pushing it some more, it returned a result that generated a bar chart… that was meaningless. It looked ‘nice’ on the surface, but I still needed to assess the validity of the results and dive into the attributes and code to understand what was taking place. Conclusion There are currently AI Assistants available for coding, documentation, for Business Analyst, for StoryMaps, for Survey123, etc. It seems like there is an update or a new feature added to these tools everyday. As noted in the beggining of this blog, you need to enable these tools across your organization to gain access to them, but after you do, they provide a wealth of opportunities for pushing your students learning and engagement in novel ways. As you start your planning for the spring semester, please reach out and let us know if you plan on including these tools in a course! We would love to hear about the creative ways that you plan on including Esri's AI Assistants in the classroom.   ... View more

  “Do you really need ALL of that information in your pop-up?” You might have a lot of information in your dataset… but every user probably doesn’t need to see all of it. For an earthquake, the average user just wants to know ‘where’ and ‘how big’. The attribute for ‘modified Mercali intensity’… probably not so much. With the HTML <details> element, you can actually use some basic HTML to create a native, collapsible content area. Also, combining this with the HTML description list <dl> element lets you create some fancy hidden tables. These are some great ways to show students how cartography can also include these more dynamic elements, depending on the needs of the map/application. If you want to explore my map on your own, please open the map here: https://arcg.is/5XjT8 (You can then click on Layers, Events by Magnitude, and then look at the HTML in the pop-up and the Arcade expressions to get the 'colors) Let’s dive into the <details> A few months ago – I discovered that ArcGIS Online pop-ups now support the <details> element. What is the <details> element you ask? Well – it’s a simple way to natively create a collapsible data structure in a website, which you can now use in a pop-up. It really just requires 3 lines of code, so simple. Here is a basic example: <details> <summary>More information - <i>click here to expand</i></summary> <p>Hidden text</p> </details>   The <summary> tag will serve as the ‘header’ and any information that falls after that and before the closing </details> tag will be collapsed/hidden. There were 2 things that I got really excited about as well. The first one is the fact that CSS style tags can be used on the element, so you can modify how it looks/appears/displays. The 2nd thing is the fact that you can nest multiple <details>. So… you can nest collapsible content (I am not going to dive into that here… but please explore it, it’s easy to do.). So, you can now ‘nest’ any content that you want. You can actually nest entire HTML data structures within the details element as well, so tables, list, <div>s, etc… anything! In the next step, let’s look at nesting some ‘tables’. Please kill your tables To date myself, I remember when tables ruled the internet. Literally every website relied on the lowly table (with hidden borders) to define it’s structure and layout. But CSS has come a long way since 1995. The ‘point’ of the <table> element in websites is to have information presented that can be logically presented as columns and rows, structured with logical headers. If the data you are presenting isn’t really intended for a table… there must be something else that we could use… Another element that was recently added to ArcGIS Online pop-ups is the description list or <dl>. The <dl> is used to present name:value pairs, which is really what we are trying to do when we present a set of attribute values in a tabular format. The <dl> works somewhat similar to a <table>, but it provides some more flexibility. I also prefer it when reading the HTML, it just seems less confusing in the syntax. A <dl></dl> is then composed of pairs of <dt></dt><dd></dd>, or terms and descriptions. So, in a basic example we could have: <dl> <dt>Time</dt> <dd>{time}</dd> <dt>Place</dt> <dd>{place}</dd> <dl>   In this example, I have 2 value pairs and I am using the syntax for the field so that it will dynamically populate the value. You could also include multiple terms with a single description, or one term and multiple descriptions… there are a lot of options. The CSS style tag is also supported with <dl>, <dt>, and <dd>, so you can style them to look however you want. Toss that <dl> into the <details> In the example, I put a 2nd <dl> into a <detail> - so that we could make a hidden table of information. This is a great way to include a lot of information, but let users choose whether or not they want to see/engage with it. So, please go explore the <details> element, it’s a clean and easy way to build some nice collapsible content structures for your pop-up! ... View more

Why StreetMap Premium for Higher Education? ArcGIS Online includes the World Geocoder for most geocoding and network analysis needs, but we have seen an increased need for Higher Education users to look at using StreetMap Premium. The most common use cases are the following: Need for secure geocoding (HIPAA compliant or sensitive data) You don’t want to consume credits in ArcGIS Online for geocoding and network analysis (geocoding and network analysis is typically the heaviest consumer of ArcGIS Online credits) Volume. If users want to geocode millions of records, the consumption of ArcGIS Online credits is a factor, but local analysis will be significantly faster. What is StreetMap Premium? StreetMap Premium is a data product that Esri offers at a discounted price to Education customers. It is not included in Departmental or Institution Agreements. This is because Esri licenses the address and network data from partners, for which Esri incurs a royalty fee. "ArcGIS StreetMap Premium provides enriched street data for use in ArcGIS to deliver high-quality and multiscale cartographic map display; accurate geocoding (batch, reverse, and interactive search); and optimized routing, driving directions, and network analysis. StreetMap Premium is an out-of-the-box solution that is designed specifically to use with ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Enterprise. It can be deployed rapidly on-premises behind your firewall with no data preparation." (https://doc.arcgis.com/en/streetmap-premium/latest/get-started/overview.htm). The data and locators are updated quarterly and are provided as downloads in MyEsri. When users conduct any geocoding or network analysis using StreetMap Premium, there is NO interaction with Esri servers. The following outlines the various ways that users can license StreetMap Premium: By geography – users select the geography they want to license (ex. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, etc.) Institution vs. Department Users with an Esri Education Institution Agreement, have the option to purchase an Institutional License of StreetMap Premium based on a set number of users (5, 10, or 50). Each of these licenses also come with 2 ArcGIS Server StreetMap Premium Extensions. Users with Departmental Agreements have the option to purchase licenses on a per user basis. Academic vs. Administrative Both Institution and Departmental licenses offer academic and administrative (campus operational) use of StreetMap Premium Why do I already see thousands of licenses for StreetMap Premium? For any college or university with an Esri Institution Agreement (not Departmental Agreement), it might be confusing to discover that you already have StreetMap Premium ArcGIS Pro extensions. But this does not mean you have StreetMap Premium. If you have 5,000 Professional Plus users, you should see 5,000 StreetMap Premium North America licenses as well. The reason for this is that a ‘light’ version of StreetMap Premium is included as part of the ArcGIS Pro Business Analyst extension. The goal is to enable ‘local’ (within ArcGIS Pro) Business Analyst functionality that will not consume credits for users related to network analysis and geocoding. This ‘light’ license of StreetMap Premium does not include the StreetMap Premium locators or datasets, so they will not be visible as downloads within MyEsri. This license is to be used solely with the ArcGIS Pro Business Analyst extension. How can you enable the use of StreetMap Premium? StreetMap Premium can be used on a PC by a single user, in a secure air-gapped environment, published as a service to be made available to hundreds or thousands of users, etc. There are a range of different ways that you can deploy and use StreetMap Premium depending on the needs of your campus community. If your needs differ than the general patterns of use outlined below, please reach out! Via Named User The easiest way to use StreetMap Premium, is by adding it to any named user as a Pro Extension.   From within MyEsri, an administrator can then download the latest StreetMap Premium data as a Mobile Map Package (MMPK). This MMPK contains maps and locators. Users can open and use the MMPK within their own project or use the locator files when they are unpacked.   Now, a user just needs to ensure that they select the correct locator when they conduct their geocoding (in this case, USA, NOT the World Geocoding Service).   Multiple Users If you are supporting multiple users on campus with StreetMap Premium, you can follow the same steps outlined above, or if you purchased an Enterprise license of StreetMap Premium, you can deploy it as a service on your ArcGIS Enterprise instance. In this way, users won’t need to have a local StreetMap Premium MMPK file, they can simply connect to the service and use it for geocoding. To license ArcGIS Enterprise for StreetMap Premium, you will need to apply the ArcGIS Server StreetMap Premium Extension license. To publish a locator service, a user needs to have the StreetMap Premium Pro Extension enabled and load the MMPK of interest. They can then right-click on the locator and publish it as a service to the Enterprise instance. The locator will then be visible as an item in ArcGIS Enterprise and can be shared with users just like any other item.   Users will not require a StreetMap Premium license to utilize this locator and they can access it in ArcGIS Pro or via the web. Single Users (secure/air-gapped) In cases with sensitive data (HIPAA, etc.) users cannot utilize the named user license for ArcGIS Pro and StreetMap Premium, because licensing via a named user requires an internet connection. To support these use cases, there is now a standalone StreetMap Premium license that is bundled with ArcGIS Pro Basic. This is licensed in a similar manner to Single Use licensing, thereby not requiring a named user or an internet connection. Please reach out to your Account Manager if you require or have any questions about this type of deployment. Multiple Users (secure/air-gapped) If you have multiple users in an air-gapped environment, you can use the licensing process outlined above for Single Users, where you purchase multiple licenses of the ‘stand-alone’ license per machine. Another option is the ability to use Portal for ArcGIS as a license manager. By standing up only Portal for ArcGIS (not ArcGIS Server, Data Store, etc.), users can apply their StreetMap Premium and ArcGIS Pro licenses to the Portal instance and manage multiple users. Users would then use ArcGIS Pro to authenticate to that Portal instance and they would use StreetMap Premium locally on the Pro machine. Close If you have any questions at all, please reach out. Some of the ways that StreetMap Premium can be deployed has changed a bit over the past 2 years, so there may be some confusion in how to get started. Overall, if you have any of the geocoding or networking needs outlined at the start of this blog, then it offers a great solution. ... View more

3/11/2025 - Update/Edit - added some details about MapMaker. A great deal of updates just came out late last week with the February ArcGIS Online release (and all of the related apps). As we know… you probably don’t spend a full day reading through every product update blog to understand what updates are the most relevant for education… so we have taken the liberty of giving you a ‘summarized’ update for some of the latest/greatest items as they pertain to educators. To have a look at all of the latest updates, please visit the ArcGIS Blog page – where you can read about them for each product and app: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/overview/ For a more in-depth, summarized post that outlines the majority of the updates for ArcGIS Online, please refer to Bernie’s blog here: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-online/announcements/whats-new-arcgis-online-february-2025/ Editing with templates While this is an update that will make a lot of ‘data entry/data editors’ really happy, it doesn’t have a big impact on educators. A big reason for including it here is really ensuring that students ‘understand’ what feature templates are – and how important they are for streamlining the editing experience. Feature templates have been a part of ArcGIS Pro and desktop GIS for years (and they were in MapViewer Classic), but they have just landed in MapViewer. If you are wondering what a 'feature template is' - it basically provides a streamlined way of creating data. Rather than just placing a 'polygon' for land use and then setting the attributes to denote it as 'water', etc., you can specify 'classes' of features (and default attributes) when you start creating a feature. For a more detailed description of the updates, please visit this blog: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-online/data-management/optimize-editing-with-templates-in-map-viewer/ Model Builder… in the web! Model Builder was introduced in beta back in November of 2024 and it is still in beta as of this release, but it comes with a few nice enhancements for the education community. The biggest one that came out in February is the ability to ‘Save As’. Now, if you share a model with students, you can have them save a copy to update or modify. For a more detailed description of the updates, please visit this blog: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-online/analytics/whats-new-in-modelbuilder-beta-february-2025/ Editing Data in the Web, MapViewer vs. Wed Editor Editing has been possible in MapViewer and MapViewer Classic for years now, but there’s a ‘newer’ kid on the block: Web Editor. Web Editor is a separate web application that can be launched from the ArcGIS Online applications ribbon. It provides a set of tools and options specifically for data editors. While Web Editor cannot full replace desktop-based editing, it does offer a wealth of powerful tools for editing geometries and creating features. One of the recent enhancements that the tool offers at this latest release is batch attribute updates. Users can select multiple features with a query (or via a selection) and then update attributes. I also love how you can use 'keyboard shortcuts' to enter in deflection or distances during an edit session, just an example of some of the more advanced capabilities that were only available in desktop GIS until recently. Check out this recent Introduction to Web Editor video to learn more: http://mediaspace.esri.com/media/1_pqd7dfdt Sentinel-2 Explorer One of the most exciting releases of this February, is probably the new Sentinel-2 Explorer application. If you are familiar with the Landsat Explorer app, then I won’t have much explaining to do. If either of these applications are new to you, this one provides a really easy way to explore global Sentinel-2 data, apply on-the-fly renderers, export animations, and publish analytical results! For me, one of the most powerful aspects of this application, is the ability to create a ‘vegetation or water’ mask and then export that result to use in another map or application. Students could explore urban growth around Beijing and then export that result to use in other maps or analysis - pretty cool. For a more detailed description of the updates, please visit this blog: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-living-atlas/imagery/sentinel-2-explorer-another-level-of-earth-observation/ MapMaker, MapMaker, make me a map There were a few updated and enhancements for MapMaker in this release as well. MapMaker is a mapping tool built in partnership with National Geographic that provides a wealth of easy to use map tools for exploring the globe. It's a fantastic application for K-12 and can also find a place in introductory GIS or spatial literacy courses. For the full list of updates, please see the following StoryMap: https://www.esriurl.com/whatsnew_mm  Outro Lastly – thanks so much to my colleagues @CanserinaKurnia & @Kylie for their help tracking down the best updates for educators. If you have any questions or have any interesting ways you plan on incorporating these new updates into your coursework, please let us know! ... View more

All I wanted to find… was the Great Wall of China. I didn’t need each historic section, or attributes related to the materials used. I just wanted a basic polyline, of the Great Wall, that I could use in ArcGIS Online. I couldn’t find it.   ArcGIS Online holds so much promise for data sharing… but we are still hiding an amazing wealth of data away in silos. Data has been siloed off because of a lack of data sharing, poor metadata, permissions issues, and others. But we can start to tear down some of these walls! Why should we care? You can help students, researchers, and the general public discover authoritative spatial data You can provide ‘credit’ to your students and researchers and widely promote your university, college, research center, etc. You can encourage your users, teachers, students, and researchers to contribute to and continue building a global body of spatial data Over the course of a series of blogs, I am going to lay out some best practices for how the academic community can start sharing more maps and data. When we go to search for content in ArcGIS Online, we should have the ability to search across the world’s largest collection of geospatial data ever created. Next year, when I go and search for ‘Great Wall’, I want to see results from academics and users that have been maintaining and building these datasets (that I know exist!) for decades. This blog (Part 1) is about getting your organization ready. We are going to focus on the best practices and settings that you can get in place to ensure that data sharing and discovery is ready to go. Get your organization ready… The first step to ensuring that your research center or institution is ready to share data more broadly, is by conducting some initial ‘housekeeping’ to get prepared. You might have taken all of these steps already. If you have 'great!', but they are worth reviewing to ensure that your ArcGIS organization has its best foot forward. Organization settings Under ‘Settings, General’, here are a few things that you should review. Organization profile Double check to ensure your ‘Name’ reflects your organization Add a logo for your university or center Add a summary of your university or center  Navigation bar Under ‘Manage navigation bar links’ you have the ability to hide or display different global sections of your ArcGIS Online organization. The options that are more applicable in this case, is anything that has an ‘Everyone’ option. For example, you have the ability to let anyone who navigates to your ‘global’ page see the Gallery tab and then visit your organizations Gallery page, or Featured Groups. Logo? check. Name? check. Summary? check. Home page ArcGIS Online includes a ‘Home page editor’ – which lets you modify the look and feel of your landing page. I would recommend modifying the default settings and including some ‘featured maps and apps’ on the page, or a basic description of your university/center. There are a range of different options/tools that let you quickly style a nice-looking landing page. Within the home page editor, you also have the ability to enable to a footer for your page that includes contact information. You can do better than this! While you can also setup Hub sites, Experience Builder applications, or other websites, etc. to serve as the ‘landing page’ for your geospatial content, if you enable public sharing and ‘verify your organization’, users will still be able to find their way to your front page. So, it’s a good practice to put in a little time and effort. Here is a really nice example from Northeastern University:   Optional settings It was already discussed briefly under the ‘Navigation bar’ organization setting options, but beyond just letting public users access your landing page and content, you can also enable access to a ‘Gallery’ and ‘Featured Groups’. ArcGIS Online ‘Gallery’ An ArcGIS Online ‘Gallery’ is basically a built-in, curated data/map discovery app. Users can select a group that they want the gallery to use and then any content added to the group is discoverable in the Gallery. Or, the Gallery can simply feature all of your organization’s shared content. Featured Groups Similar to the Gallery, this offers organizations a way to feature specific projects or content. You could also create a set of authoritative groups (for specific research, projects, classes, years, etc.) and make those visible to anyone who visits your organization. For example, Colorado State University has selected a number of great StoryMaps, mapping applications, Hubs, and other content that they have set as ‘Featured Content’: Great job Colorado State! Allow Anonymous Access Under ‘Settings, Security’ – the first option is to ‘Allow anonymous access to your organization’s website’. This simply means that when users visit your ArcGIS Online URL, they will be able to see the homepage. Prior to enabline this setting, we covered all of the other settings you would want to review. Enabling this setting does not mean that users will be able to 'log into' your organization. They will simply be able to search, view, and use content that is shared with 'Everyone'. Verify your organization When you ‘verify your organization’, you have the ability to put a ‘stamp of authority’ on any content that you share. Anyone if your organization cannot label their content as 'authoritative', only administrators or users with 'Update Content' enabled under the Admin. user role settings have this capability. (This will be covered in more detail in the follow-up blog). For example, the City of Cambridge shares their ‘Parcels’ dataset, as shown in the screenshot below:   The 2 things to note in this image is that ‘City of Cambridge’ is listed as the ‘owner’ of the dataset. Clicking on that name, would bring users to the organization homepage or gallery. There is a still a username/individual that ‘owns’ the content, but the organization is now highlighted, which provides a tie-back to your university, college, or research center. To verify your organization, you can find the request under the General settings for your ArcGIS Online organization:   By selecting ‘Verify organization’, a basic e-mail template will open that you can send to Esri Customer Service. Customer service then confirms that the organization name and customer name are the same. Close After stepping through this blog, your organization should be ‘ready’ to jump onto the world stage. In a follow-up post, we will dive into the specifics related to items (metadata, descriptions, etc.) to ensure that your content is easy to find and access. We have the foundation built… the next step is loading up your organization with amazing data, maps, and applications. ... View more

This is the 6th blog in a 6-part series highlighting the core concepts of a Modern GIS. To view the other blog posts – please visit this page Modern GIS Core Concepts Over the past few years, Esri’s Education team have been discussing the technology shift and the need for GIS coursework to move from desktop-centric patterns to those that include the web. Desktop GIS is still an integral part of the story – but it is no longer the focus of the story. Desktop GIS is vital for data management, advanced analysis, and cartographic production – but many of those workflows are now part of a web-based context. Desktop tools can now seamlessly consume web-based services published by authoritative geospatial agencies and individuals across the globe. Desktop GIS can publish map services and layers to the cloud – to be consumed by web-based applications and tools, and desktop GIS can edit and manage web-based data and layers. Through this series, we are asking: So, what does a course look like that focuses on the fundamentals of GIS but adjusts to a more web-centric paradigm? In this blog, we will be looking at mobile GIS. Phones Where are you reading this right now? Are you on your phone? I can almost guarantee at least 60% of you are… The first iPhone was released in June 2007, and it transformed how people use technology. Maps, charts, reports, websites, were no longer ‘tethered’ to a computer. Just as this shift transformed so many other fields and industries, it has also been transformational for GIS. The chart below shows the worldwide share of web traffic, by device, from January 2010 to September 2024. Over the past 4 years, mobile client traffic has steadily outpaced desktop traffic. But, this brings up a big issue with the term ‘mobile GIS’. (source: statcounter.com global stats)   The issue is that ‘mobile GIS’ is most often taught in the context of ‘field data collection’. Teaching students how to capture data and providing that tangible, hands-on experience is fantastic, but it’s only a small fraction of what mobile GIS is. As depicted in the diagram below, mobile GIS is about viewing and/or collecting data on a mobile device. At times, that workflow needs to support disconnected environments as well. Mobile GIS is about more than just Field Maps and Survey123, there are a wide range of applications that users can utilize to consume and/or collect data on mobile devices. (source: author)   This blog is going to explore 3 different ways that mobile GIS should be taught as more than just ‘field data collection’: Mobile first design Data modelling and design Connecting students to their communities   It NEEDS to work on my phone The design of a map or application all comes down to what it needs to accomplish and how it is intended to be used. With that being said, the vast majority of design considerations for maps and applications are still largely built for desktop users. Yet, students need to ensure that their maps and applications are also functional on mobile devices, or occasionally, designed for mobile first. The majority of Esri’s configurable web applications were designed to be device agnostic, or adaptive. Yet, that doesn’t mean that certain symbology choices (or popups, etc.) will work as well in a mobile format. The map below uses one of the Instant App templates, which was built with adaptive elements. The info box and time slider resize and adjust to the users screen size. Using Instant Apps are a good way to get started with testing and thinking about different screens/uses. How does the map look on a phone? Should we adjust or remove certain features? Should the pop-up information be simplified? Students can quickly deploy one application and see how it meets the needs of users on different devices, all through quick changes to the map or application settings.   On the other hand – this dashboard that was created by the City of Deerfield Beach was built with 2 different configurations. When a user loads the dashboard on a mobile device, they will be presented with the ‘smaller’ application that was purpose built for that screen size, while a larger dashboard with additional tools and functionality will load on a desktop. Providing students this experience, the ability to think through a user’s needs on different devices, test, deploy, and revisit/revise is incredibly valuable. Rather than trusting in the technology to display the right adaptive experience, students can design and provide the visualizations that fit the form, based on the needs. The skills and experience found in designing a mapping application and ensuring that whatever it’s goal, it will support users wherever they use it, is something that would jump off the page/screen of a resume or interview.   The ability to build specific configurations based on screen size or device is a capability also found in Experience Builder, where there are even more options for testing and building ‘device’ specific applications. Desktop computers have been the primary means of consuming GIS data for years. It’s easy to get complacent and simply view ‘mobile GIS’ as a means of capturing and collecting data. Even if we don’t expose students to mobile GIS as field methods and data capture, ‘mobile GIS’ should be a core tenet for how students learn to think about presenting information. String? Integer? Double? Beyond just ‘capturing’ data in the field, there is the more important question of ‘what’ you are capturing. As I am all too aware from a few forays into the field… you want to know REALLY WELL exactly what data you are capturing before you find yourself walking the streets of a neighborhood… and a required field is missing your required choice. Or… you want to build a pie chart that summarizes numeric results… but every field was captured as a string value. BEFORE students get into the field, I love giving them a problem set and then have them work together to build a schema that they THINK will work. They can work in pairs, build their forms or feature layers, and do some test captures… and then ‘ah ha’ – time for a nice conversation about data design. Field Maps Designer and Survey123 are great for data capture, but they also provide a great hands-on way to work with and talk about data management (data types, required fields, field lengths, etc.). Without diving into ArcCatalog, or geodatabases, the short videos below show how using Field Maps Designer, users can explore and create different geometry types (point, line, polygon) and options for the types of attributes that these features will hold (Should we create ‘lists’ to better control for data quality and inputs? Do we need a date or date and time? Should we store the value as a Double or an Integer?).     With a simple drag and drop UI, students can use Field Maps Designer to build the schema for a feature layer.     Before students start capturing or creating data, they need to understand how that information is stored. Survey123 and Field Maps both provide quick web-based tools that allow students to design schemas for features with a quick drag and drop UI. Get Outside! While the point of this blog is to encourage faculty to ‘think differently’ about mobile GIS… it’s hard to escape the fact that getting out into the field and capturing data is still a really powerful and useful skill set for students to have. One of the exercises that I have run for years, has students build a simple land use classification feature (trees, built area, crops, water, etc.), that matches the Sentinel-2 land cover classes. Then, walking around their neighborhood, students capture roughly 20 data points based on the land classes THEY experience and see. Back in the classroom, we can then pull up the Sentinel-2 Land Cover layer from the Living Atlas. How does the data compare? Why are the results different? How was the Sentinel-2 land cover data classified? Spatial resolution anyone?     Or, you have the ability to show students how GIS can truly empower them and their communities. What are issues that they notice or care about? Where are bike lanes? On campus, are there certain areas that students don’t feel safe? Are there lighting issues on campus? Are there areas of the city or town where sidewalks are dangerous (or non-existent)? With how fast forms and features can be built, over the course of one-week students could design a survey tool and capture data along with photos, attributes, and their location. Rather than GIS being some abstract thing that only deals with streets and parcels, it becomes about THEM. It’s a tool that they can use to build out visualizations, analytics, and tell their own stories to lobby for change.   Close Mobile GIS isn’t just data capture. Mobile is how 60% of the world consumes information. In GIS courses, we can easily incorporate ‘mobile GIS’ throughout coursework, from data design, to cartography, and of course, to data collection and creation. As the consumption of maps and information in a mobile context continues to overtake desktop computing, we need to ensure that students are equipped the skills and knowledge to build visualizations and applications that meet the needs of (mobile) users today.     Resources The following is a small subset of resources that you can use as lessons, labs, or supplemental material for a course. Please explore any of these locations further, as there are hundreds of fantastic resources available for incorporating mobile GIS. Esri Academy Collecting and Visualizing Data with ArcGIS QuickCapture: https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/640fb4f04d750615173f3dc1/collecting-and-visualizing-data-with-arcgis-quickcapture/ ArcGIS Survey123: Creating and Publishing Surveys: https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/633c493605b5436b9a118de7/arcgis-survey123-creating-and-publishing-surveys/ Teaching with GIS: Field Data Collection Using ArcGIS: https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/57630433851d31e02a43ee9b/teaching-with-gis-field-data-collection-using-arcgis/ Learn Create a community walkability survey: https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/create-a-community-walkability-survey/ Optimize an app layout for mobile: https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/optimize-an-app-layout-for-mobile/ Map meaningful places in your community: https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/map-meaningful-places-in-your-community/ Book/Texts Fieldwork Handbook: A Practical Guide on the Go: https://www.esri.com/en-us/esri-press/browse/fieldwork-handbook Getting to Know Web GIS, fifth edition: https://www.esri.com/en-us/esri-press/browse/getting-to-know-web-gis-fifth-edition Documentation/Tutorials Dashboard mobile views: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/dashboards/latest/reference/dashboards-on-your-smartphone.htm Getting started with dashboard mobile views: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/ops-dashboard/decision-support/getting-started-with-dashboard-mobile-views/ Other New Workshop and Lesson on Connecting Surveys, Maps, Analysis, Dashboards, and Story Maps: https://community.esri.com/t5/education-blog/new-workshop-and-lesson-on-connecting-surveys-maps/ba-p/1419582 16 New Lessons as part of a Fundamentals of GIS Short Course: https://community.esri.com/t5/education-blog/16-new-lessons-as-part-of-a-fundamentals-of-gis/ba-p/1482056 ... 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The following documentation pertains to ArcGIS Pro 3.3. Prior (or newer) versions may have options and settings that differ from the screenshots and workflow outlined. With single use and concurrent use licenses removed from education agreements, the method for licensing your university users is through ‘named users’. We have recommended setting up SAML or single-sign-on (SSO) for use with ArcGIS Online, to make the licensing process for users as seamless as possible. To make it even EASIER for users in lab machines, there is the ability to install ArcGIS Pro silently with a number of default settings that make sign-ins a breeze. If you already have ArcGIS Pro installed on lab machines and want to update the settings across many installations, this can be accomplished by updating Windows Registry settings. That workflow is outlined in the 2 nd part of this blog. Getting things ready in ArcGIS Online In ArcGIS Online, you have the ability to configure the login page for your users. We recommend only enabling the SAML login as shown here:   With this setting enabled, users can go to your ArcGIS Online URL (https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com) and it will automatically attempt to sign them in via your universities SAML credentials. They won’t need to enter a URL or get confused by a ‘named user’ sign-in box. Users with built-in ‘named user’ credentials (non-SAML/SSO) can still log into your organization by navigating to the global ArcGIS Online login url at: https://www.arcgis.com and logging in. Also – as we will see in a minute, this will also streamline user access to ArcGIS Pro. Lastly – you can also set an ‘access notice’ that will be presented to users when they log into ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Pro (example included in the short GIF further down).   Here is a basic demonstration of what the experience will look like to users (as a note, I didn’t need to enter my SAML credentials because my most recent login was still cached):   To enable this experience for users by default when they launch ArcGIS Pro, you can pass these variables through with an install. ArcGIS Pro Silent Install ArcGIS Pro has the option to be installed ‘silently’ with a number of settings preconfigured by a power user. The full documentation can be found here: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/get-started/arcgis-pro-installation-administration.htm Before running this script, ensure that you have the ArcGIS Pro installation files in a location where they can be accessed. Also, you will need to ensure that each machine has the Microsoft .Net 8.0 Runtime installed, or the installation will not proceed. From a windows command prompt, the following script can be run:       msiexec.exe /i "C:\ArcGISPro.msi" /qb ALLUSERS=1 ACCEPTEULA=YES SOFTWARE_CLASS=Professional AUTHORIZATION_TYPE=NAMED_USER LICENSE_URL="https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com" LOCK_AUTH_SETTINGS=TRUE CHECKFORUPDATESATSTARTUP=0       So – what is the script doing? Here are the details for all of the options that we are setting with the installation. "C:\ArcGISPro.msi" This is the location of the ArcGIS Pro installer and all related files (after unpacking the ArcGIS Pro EXE) ALLUSERS=1 setting the install as a 'per machine' installation vs a per-user install ACCEPTEULA=YES simply accepting the Esri End User Agreement SOFTWARE_CLASS=Professional Sets the license level for ArcGIS Pro CHECKFORUPDATESATSTARTUP=0 disables automatic updates (set to 1 to enable them) AUTHORIZATION_TYPE=NAMED_USER will use a ‘named user’ for licensing vs. a single use or concurrent use license LICENSE_URL=”https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com” will populate the the licensing URL LOCK_AUTH_SETTINGS=TRUE licensing settings will apply to all Pro users on a machine After some non-exhaustive testing, I found that the silent installation process took only about 5 minutes. After it completes, you are ready to go! Updating ArcGIS Pro licensing settings When you install ArcGIS Pro, Windows Registry settings get applied at the local user or local machine level. In order to update the licensing settings, you can update ArcGIS Pro via the UI, or via the Windows Registry. If you want to make changes via the ArcGIS Pro UI, you can navigate to Settings, and then Licensing, Configure your licensing options, change the License Type to ‘Named User License’, and then enter in the portal URL ex. ‘https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com/’   If you need to make changes across dozens, or hundreds of machines, you can also make these changes via registry updates. Please know that updating registry settings CAN have a detrimental impact on your machine(s), please do not edit the Windows Registry unless you understand what updates you are making. Re-install ArcGIS Pro A reinstall of ArcGIS Pro will not overwrite the registry settings in USER profiles. It will apply changes at the LOCAL_MACHINE level and any new users will have the settings applied when they launch ArcGIS Pro. To ensure that users with existing profiles on the machine have the license settings applied, please read the ‘USERS updates’ section below to understand what keys to either delete or update. Update ArcGIS Pro license settings without reinstalling – via Windows Registry Editor For those that have already installed ArcGIS Pro in a lab and are using single use or concurrent use licensing, you have asked how you can update multiple machines to named user licensing. The following process will walk through how this can be accomplished via the Windows Registry Editor. When ArcGIS Pro is installed, it created registry keys at the LOCAL_MACHINE level and USER keys are generated when a user logs in and opens ArcGIS Pro. To ensure that NEW and OLD users will have the licensing changes applied, you will need to run registry key updates for the LOCAL_MACHINE and any USER profiles (or delete specific keys in the USER profiles). LOCAL_MACHINE updates In the Windows Registry Editor, under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Software, Esri, ArcGIS Pro, you should find 2 keys (Licensing and Settings) that look similar to the ones below. These screenshots are from installation that used a single use license with the silent install.     Under Licensing, the following changes need to be made: AUTHORIZATION_TYPE from SINGLE_USE to NAMED_USER SEAT_PREFERENCE - deleted value (Fixed) SOFTWARE_TYPE - deleted value (CLASSIC) Under Settings, the following changes need to be made: Add License_URL and set the value to your licensing portal, ex: https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com After you make the changes, it should look like the following screenshots:     USERS updates So – you have now created the settings for any ‘new’ user that logs onto the machine via the LOCAL_MACHINE registry settings, but we also need to update the settings for any existing user profiles, or delete existing keys. For all existing user profiles, you can either delete the following keys (the entire 'folder' listed in bold): HKEY/Software/Esri/ArcGIS Online for Pro HKEY/Software/Esri/ArcGISPro Or, you can update values in those keys. PowerShell Script - delete all USERS The following is a PowerShell script that loops through all users, loads their HIVE, and then deletes the 2 ArcGIS registry keys. Modified by: Joe Youn & Mike Stoppay, Computer Operations for Research and Education, College of Science and Mathematics, Montclair State University Based on: https://www.pdq.com/blog/modifying-the-registry-users-powershell/     # Get Username, SID, and location of ntuser.dat for all users $ProfileList = gp 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\*' | Where-Object {$_.PSChildName -match $PatternSID} | Select @{name="SID";expression={$_.PSChildName}}, @{name="UserHive";expression={"$($_.ProfileImagePath)\ntuser.dat"}}, @{name="Username";expression={$_.ProfileImagePath -replace '^(.*[\\\/])', ''}} # Get all user SIDs found in HKEY_USERS (ntuder.dat files that are loaded) $LoadedHives = gci Registry::HKEY_USERS | ? {$_.PSChildname -match $PatternSID} | Select @{name="SID";expression={$_.PSChildName}} # Get all users that are not currently logged $UnloadedHives = Compare-Object $ProfileList.SID $LoadedHives.SID | Select @{name="SID";expression={$_.InputObject}}, UserHive, Username # Loop through each profile on the machine Foreach ($item in $ProfileList) { # Load User ntuser.dat if it's not already loaded IF ($item.SID -in $UnloadedHives.SID) { reg load HKU\$($Item.SID) $($Item.UserHive) | Out-Null } ##################################################################### # List users and find registry keys # uncomment Remove-Item lines to delete keys "{0}" -f $($item.Username) | Write-Output Get-Item -path registry::HKEY_USERS\$($Item.SID)\Software\ESRI\ArcGISPro -ErrorAction Ignore | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name #Remove-Item -path registry::HKEY_USERS\$($Item.SID)\Software\ESRI\ArcGISPro -Recurse -ErrorAction Ignore Get-Item -path "registry::HKEY_USERS\$($Item.SID)\Software\ESRI\ArcGIS Online for Pro" -ErrorAction Ignore | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name #Remove-Item -path "registry::HKEY_USERS\$($Item.SID)\Software\ESRI\ArcGIS Online for Pro" -Recurse -ErrorAction Ignore ##################################################################### # Unload ntuser.dat IF ($item.SID -in $UnloadedHives.SID) { ### Garbage collection and closing of ntuser.dat ### [gc]::Collect() reg unload HKU\$($Item.SID) | Out-Null } }     Manual Process To Update USERS The following description explains how one could do this manually, but this process would need to be scripted in order to update the large number of user profiles on each machine. The following screenshots show the CURRENT_USER keys for ‘Portals’, ‘SignIn’, and ‘Licensing’ after the user opened ArcGIS Pro in a single-use license deployment.       Under Portals, the following changes need to be made: Add a new string value with the name ‘URL1’ and set the value to ‘https://www.arcgis.com’ Update URL0 to match your licensing portal URL, ex. ‘https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com’ Under SignIn, the following changes need to be made: Add a new string ‘AuthorizationPortal’ and enter the value of your licensing portal URL, ex. ‘https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com’ Update the ‘HomeServerURIFile’ value to your licensing portal URL, ex. ‘https://baldwinuniversity.maps.arcgis.com’ Add a new DWord ‘ConfigLicense’ and keep the default value Under Licensing, the following changes need to be made: Update ‘SOFTWARE_TYPE’ to ArcGIS Pro ... View more

This is the 5th blog in a 6-part series highlighting the core concepts of a Modern GIS. To view the other blog posts – please visit this page: Modern GIS Core Concepts Over the past few years, Esri’s Education team have been discussing the technology shift and the need for GIS coursework to move from desktop-centric patterns to those that include the web. Desktop GIS is still an integral part of the story – but it is no longer the focus of the story. Desktop GIS is vital for data management, advanced analysis, and cartographic production – but many of those workflows are now part of a web-based context. Desktop tools can now seamlessly consume web-based services published by authoritative geospatial agencies and individuals across the globe. Desktop GIS can publish map services and layers to the cloud – to be consumed by web-based applications and tools, and desktop GIS can edit and manage web-based data and layers. Through this series, we are asking: So, what does a course look like that focuses on the fundamentals of GIS but adjusts to a more web-centric paradigm? In this blog, we will be looking at sharing and presenting information.   We can do better than PDFs and JPGs embedded into StoryMaps… My son and daughter are digital natives. They were born and raised in a world where technology pervades their every minute and it’s simply the norm. My wife and I describing the process of ‘going to a video store’ and ‘renting VHS tapes’ and ‘the store not having a copy of Jurassic Park so you just had to wait and hope that they would next time’… was completely foreign to them. They could not comprehend what we were talking about. On family movie nights today, we scroll through an endless selection of titles that are available via voice command. Things have changed a bit. In GIS… the technology changes have been just as dramatic with the shift to web-based GIS. Maps are now interactive, with detailed information that can be presented within pop-ups. They can be used on mobile devices across the world. They can present real-time information and they reflect changes as soon as an author hits ‘update’. This technological shift is a true transformation, but in many cases, the ways that we are still teaching about presenting spatial information, is almost as if all we had were print maps. While map layouts (exported as PDFs, JPEGs, etc.) are fantastic – they are really just updated paper maps. They are ‘static’ representations of a specific time and place. When we have students place static maps into a StoryMap… they are just creating ‘new’ PPT presentations. Are they digital? Of course! But we can do a lot better when it comes to teaching about and guiding students on HOW presenting spatial information has changed.   It’s all about interactivity When users build maps in a desktop GIS, they work with project files (MXD, APRX) that store layers, and each layer references a dataset that stores symbology information. When it comes time to share their work, users start constructing a map layout that is ‘set’ for a specific size/resolution for either screen or print. The size of the map necessitates that the user makes certain decisions regarding labels, symbology, layers, etc. All of these decisions are based on the map’s purpose and audience (hopefully!). When we consider a web-based map vs. print, the skills and requirements have some similarities… but there is a lot of new content to cover.     Looking at the diagram below, the biggest differentiator are the dynamic tools/options and HOW these options can be configured. Does a user need search functionality? Should the labels for the cities be removed as we zoom in closer? What additional features should appear on the map as we zoom in? What attribute data should be visible in the pop-ups? Unlike a map layout, there are multiple ‘tiers’ of a web application to consider and each of these can have dramatic consequences for the final application. Decisions made at the ‘layer’ tier can impact the speed and performance of the application. Those made at the map level can improve the clarity of data presented, etc. The diagram below provides a basic breakdown of the 3 basic ‘tiers’ of a web-based mapping application. It’s incredibly valuable for students to know the capabilities and purpose of each tier, as well as the relationships between them. The rest of the blog will focus on the specific skills and knowledge that students should grasp in each of these sections/tiers: Apps, Maps, and Layers. Apps: making the right choice In the ‘before times’, students just had to consider how big the sheet of paper was going to be. But one of the most basic questions of map/app design remains unchanged: who is this for and what is it for? What is the NEED for the web application? Who is going to be using it? The most important questions for students to ask when they are starting to make an application is: why does this need to exist? Who is going to be using it? The answers to those questions should drive all of the choices that are made when it comes to the choice of application. If this is for the general public, it probably needs a splash screen to introduce the application and an easy to use ‘search’ tool and legend. If this is for a scientific audience, you might need to include a table and the ability to download the source data. One of the most important aspects of this question that does not get asked enough is ‘HOW’ the application is intended to be used. Specifically, will end users be pulling this up on a mobile device? A few of the themes that can also be explored in the ‘Apps Tier’ include accessibility and UI/UX. Is the application screen-reader friendly? Is it navigable via a keyboard? How will users be interacting with the application and what does that experience ‘feel’ like?   Understand what application choices there are, what they do well, and what they ARE NOT well suited for. Not all application builders are created equal. The graphic below illustrates just a few of the ArcGIS web application frameworks. This graphic does not include everything, but it provides a good starting point for understanding where to start. First and foremost, users should understand what each of these tools were designed for and what options they include. While it might be important for students to start understanding how to build and design their own custom interfaces that interact with 3rd party visualization libraries (JavaScript API), other students will just need to quickly configure a map that provides pop-ups and search capability. All of the configurable application frameworks from Esri have pros and cons. Students should know the capabilities (included tools, widgets, etc.) of each framework, to ensure they make the right choice when designing an application. As was stated earlier… let the need drive the form.   Maps: make your web map shine Within the ArcGIS Online MapViewer or ArcGIS Pro, students can spend hours (or seconds) building out their maps. The biggest issue is when students build out maps for the web… as they would have for a print layout! As we will dive into, there are a lot of configuration options that students need to understand to ensure their map and data is presented well. Ensure that users don’t see the default pop-ups! If pop-ups aren’t disabled (which is sometimes the desired outcome), they will include all of the visible attributes. This includes OBJECTID, H09204, TEST_JOIN_SUM, and others. Here is my pop-up after just adding the layer and not modifying anything (notice the scroll bar… there are dozens of attributes): After editing the display names for the fields and modifying what fields are visible in the pop-up (removing fields with no data or that not pertinent for this use case) it presents a much cleaner/clearer set of information.   Control what users see as they zoom in and out Unlike a paper map, web mapping applications let you control specifically what layers and symbology users can see and interact with, depending on the zoom level. Users have the ability to create vastly different visualizations and experiences at each zoom level… and this can take a lot of time and consideration! In the example below, I was using a dataset for Philadelphia that shows permits issued, but the feature layer was duplicated 4X. After duplicating the layer, I modified the scale visibility and the symbology of each layer. While using any of these layers could have been the right choice for a print map, the web interface gives me the ability to provide a richer experience.    The same example is pertinent for labels. I can recall manually adjusting and rotating labels for a print layout for hours… which makes sense in that context! While the auto-placement tools work well for labels in a web map, there are still circumstances where users might want to see additional detail at different zoom levels. In the case of a wildfire map, rather than just labelling the ‘name’ of the fire, as users zoom in closer we could include the ‘% Contained’, ‘Acres Burned’, etc. Taking Complete Control: Arcade Arcade is Esri’s scripting language for pop-ups, rules, symbology, and a whole host of other use cases. The power of the language has grown significantly over the past few years. It allows users to build ‘on-the-fly’ joins and relates, to datasets that are not even in the map! The example below, illustrates a case where the application needed to present different information in different locales. Clinics in the US needed buttons/links, the international locations did not. As well, if information like a ‘phone number’ or ‘website’ was missing… these values were not meant to be included and shouldn’t take up space. All of this was accomplished with Arcade. This just scratches the surface of some of the capabilities of the language, but this is one place where students NEED exposure and experience. Arcade can also even serve as a basic introduction to ‘coding/scripting’ for students. Layers Last but not least, are the layers. These are the ‘core’ items that are added to a web map and they reference the underlying data. The feature layer, as an item in ArcGIS Online is NOT… the data. It simply stores configuration information related to the symbology, filters, pop-ups, etc. that will be applied to the data. For students that might go into enterprise GIS, where they will need to manage servers and publish data, understanding the distinction between these different ‘tiers’ of features is critical. The graphic below illustrates the different roles and capabilities of the Feature Layer, Feature Service, and Data Store. There can also be a great deal of overlap here with the web map. While a feature layer can contain the symbology and layer definitions, those can be over-ridden with the settings in a web map. For our purposes, some of the key items that students should focus on and ensure they understand, are filers applied at the layer level, as well as views.   In Summary It has been fantastic to see the ‘boom’ in web-based maps and applications. K-12 students are able to build maps related to climate change, history majors can quickly build maps of cities at specific eras, but to be honest, a lot of these maps suffer from poor design choices. While the labels or symbols for a map might have been great for print (or at 1 zoom level), as soon as a user starts interacting with the map, it underwhelms. Web-based applications are an entirely new domain and concept for GIS. Rather than thinking about basic map elements, students need to think through user interactions and user experiences (UI/UX). Thinking of the design and construction of a web mapping application as a more iterative process is also beneficial. Students can create an application, test it, and then make refinements at any of the various tiers (app, map, layers) to ensure their map meets its goals. While there will always be a place for print, we need to ensure that students are exposed to and familiar with the additional needs of web-based mapping applications. So, while it’s always fun to regale students about the ‘ways things were’, please don’t send them off to Blockbuster Video to look for copies of Jurassic Park. Lastly, please take a look through the following resources, which align with the skills and knowledge that were discussed throughout the blog.     Resources Esri Academy Make an impact with Modern Geo Apps MOOC: https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/663a68f536d6dc1f7d757853/make-an-impact-with-modern-geo-apps/ ArcGIS Arcade Essentials: https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/659d93666f506d1acaaafbfc/arcgis-arcade-essentials/ Building an App in ArcGIS Online to Expand Food Access: https://www.esri.com/training/catalog/6410c0a84d750615175c18d7/building-an-app-in-arcgis-online-to-expand-food-access/ Learn Create a map: https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/create-a-map/ Configure pop-ups: https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/configure-pop-ups/ Access attributes from another layer with ArcGIS Arcade: https://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/access-attributes-from-another-layer-with-arcade/ Books/Texts Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users, third edition: https://www.esri.com/en-us/esri-press/browse/designing-better-maps-a-guide-for-gis-users-third-edition Top 20 Essential Skills for ArcGIS Online: https://www.esri.com/en-us/esri-press/browse/top-20-essential-skills-for-arcgis-online Documentation/Tutorials Pop-ups: Arcade essentials: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-online/mapping/pop-ups-arcade-essentials/ Which App Builder Do I Choose?: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/apps/announcements/which-app-builder-do-i-choose/ Using Arcade to Translate Pop-Ups for Use in the ArcGIS Instant Apps: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/instant-apps/mapping/using-arcade-to-translate-pop-ups-for-use-in-the-arcgis-instant-apps/ Other John Nelson Blogs: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/author/j_nelson/ Russell Roberts Blogs: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/author/russell-roberts/ ... 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With recent updates to ArcGIS Pro licensing (specifically, the removal of Single Use/Concurrent Use SU/CU licenses from education agreements), there have been questions related to accessing ArcGIS Pro in an ‘offline’ environment. There are a range of use cases and situations that we have heard from you and if we missed any, please add them into the comments, or just reach out to us.   Getting Started: allowing offline use of ArcGIS Pro First and foremost, offline licensing of ArcGIS Pro should be enabled from within the licensing ArcGIS Online organization. This setting can be found under ‘Licenses’ in ArcGIS Online and then ‘Manage ArcGIS Pro settings’:   This is currently a ‘global’ option. Administrators can enable/disable ArcGIS Pro offline licenses for the entire organization, but there is no way to enable this capability for a specific role, user, or group. A request for this capability has been logged with Esri’s product team.   “How long can I take ArcGIS Pro offline for?” If ArcGIS Pro is available for offline use – users will see the option available under Settings, Licensing, Authorize Pro to work offline:   When users ‘tick’ this box, they can take ArcGIS Pro offline for the duration of their license term. A future enhancement to ArcGIS Online will allow administrators to set the length of time that a license can be checked out for. In the screenshot below – I have taken ArcGIS Pro offline. We can see that my Advanced license expires on 6/13/2025 and the username ‘bbaldwin_EIA’ is listed as the authorized user.   So – my user now has a license checked out on his/her machine – and they are good to go!   “What if I check out a license on 6/10/2025…?” If the user above (with a license expiring on 6/13/2025) checks out a license on 6/10/2025 and heads into the field, the license of ArcGIS Pro will expire on 6/13/2025 and ArcGIS Pro will fail to open/work. All education license holders (for higher education) have term licenses that renew annually. At the renewal date, the licenses refresh and users can then check out a license for the next year. If license administrators know that they have a group of users that are heading into the field, it could be possible to extend the term date of the subscription, while working on renewal or initiate an ‘early renewal’, to issue licenses prior to the renewal . You also have an option to permanently change the timing of your license renewal (i.e. end of spring semester, versus Summer field work), so that field work is not impacted. Please reach out to your Account Manager to discuss possible options.      Air Gapped Environments – AKA: “We have a sensitive research lab that is ‘black-boxed’ and has no internet access” There could be isolated use cases where a named user license that is checked out from Esri’s central ArcGIS Online licensing servers is not feasible. For these use cases, we are working on an option to provide Single-Use ArcGIS Pro at a nominal cost. Please reach out to your Account Manager.   Things to Note If you take a license offline with ArcGIS Pro, it must be ‘returned’ to sign-in on another computer. This can (and has) caused headaches in situations where a student checks-out a license on the home computer and then tries to sign-in on a lab machine. If a license administrator ‘disables’ offline licenses in ArcGIS Online, but licenses are already checked out by users in ArcGIS Pro, those licenses will continue to function. If there are any other use cases or questions that are not covered here, please add comments to the blog or reach out directly to us at highered@esri.com.     ... View more