An Introduction to GIS as an open course with 10 hands-on activities
A new introduction to GIS open short course offers educators and students with a hands-on set of 10 engaging activities covering a variety of themes and scales. I created these activities based on frequent inquiries from faculty and students across a wide variety of disciplines who seek a rapid but firm foundation in building GIS skills and spatial thinking perspectives. The activities are aimed at university faculty and students new to GIS, but can be used at the secondary level as well. It is my hope that these activities are useful and instructive and help you build skills and confidence in inquiry and problem solving with GIS. Along with the Learn ArcGIS library, Esri MOOCs, and Esri Press books, these activities can be used in your geospatial learning journey in a variety of ways to further your own learning, to teach your students, and to share with colleagues!
Part 1, available here, includes:
Activity 1: Gaining confidence with using the ArcGIS Online map viewer, with a study of the Human Development Index by Country.
Activity 2: Creating a map from a data table, with a focus on a litter survey in a city.
Activity 3: Symbolizing, classifying, and charting data, building on the litter survey in a city.
Activity 4: Uncovering patterns and relationships in data, with a focus on internet access by households at different scales.
Activity 5: Examining patterns using visualization effects, with a focus on wildfires and population.
Activity 6: Creating web mapping applications, including a basic instant app and a story map.
Part 2, available here, includes:
Activity 7: Spatial Analysis in ArcGIS Online, with a focus on geologic hazards and flooding impacts on populations.
Activity 8: Creating a field survey in Survey123, with a focus on mapping trees on campus or in a part of a community.
Activity 9: Creating a web map from surveyed data, using the survey you completed in the previous activity.
Activity 10: Creating an ArcGIS Dashboard from surveyed data, using a more populated tree inventory data set. This activity is extended into "10b" with more advanced dashboard techniques.
The 10 activities are offered in a story map format so the instructions and the interactive web maps can be viewed side-by-side for rapid skill building and understanding; see graphic below.
The side-by-side (sidecar) story map format that enables immediate learning from the Introduction to GIS content.
The 10 activities cover all of the core skills that I identified in a recent essay about the 10 most important skills, making the case that if you and your students build these skills, the "sky is the limit" with what you can do with GIS. I also believe that working through these activities and reflecting upon the questions I pose touches firmly on the 10 benefits and strategies in teaching with GIS.
The 10 activities, which could be considered as an e-book or mini-course in the fundamentals of GIS, begin with a definition of GIS, why GIS matters to education and society, a discussion on spatial data and its formats, and the ArcGIS platform.
The course's goals are to:
2. Develop spatial thinking through the use of geotechnologies.
3. Develop workforce awareness of the applicability of GIS across a variety of disciplines for instruction and research.
4. Provide confidence that you can use these skills and perspectives to move forward with your own career.
The course's philosophy is that:
- This is your learning. Let us know how we on the Esri education team can help you today and in the future as you use geotechnologies.
- Using geotechnologies effectively is a journey that will require building a network with your colleagues.
- The course does not cover every GIS tool and data set that exists, but builds a foundation so that you will be empowered and feel confident.
- The activities include core themes and skills that can be used in many topics, disciplines, and scales from local to global.
The course's themes are that:
(1) Geotechnologies are critically important tools in the natural and social sciences, engineering, design, and in many other fields to build a healthier, more equitable, more sustainable, more resilient future.
(2) Geotechnologies are essential tools for your career, no matter the field: They enable you to apply your skills and knowledge and contribute to the work that nonprofits, government agencies, private industry, and academia is using everyday. But, the most important tool is your brain--GIS is first and foremost a thinker's tool.
(3) Modern cloud-enabled GIS tools and spatial data mean that it is easier than ever to learn how to apply GIS to solve problems, and for teaching and research. But the world is a complex place and hence - using GIS is a lifelong journey.
Tools: The course uses the following GIS tools: ArcGIS Online, web mapping applications including ArcGIS Dashboards and Storymaps, and the Survey123 field data collection tool. For more advanced work, the course discusses ArcGIS Pro and selected other tools in the resources section.
Feel free to use the course in its entirety, as modules for segments of your own courses, or modify the course to suit your own needs, student background with GIS, and themes. I look forward to your reactions.