Education Blog

ArcGIS Online updated this week, and here are the top five things we think educators should know about.

As a student, I spent a lot of time reading about past conflicts and events, but I often found myself frustrated. I could flip between pages of maps covered in multicolored arrows yet still struggle to understand how that felt on the ground. Modern GIS tools are far more powerful, but even a Web Scene is a diagram for conveying information rather than establishing a feeling of presence in time and space. So I set out to build a different kind of digital twin, harnessing a game engine to capture not only a physical place but the sense of being there and of the events that played out there.

There are many online communities of practice around GIS and education. Learn about the ones we find valuable and explore where you might want to join the conversation.

If you’re curious about how artificial intelligence and geographic information systems intersect, now is a great time to explore GeoAI in ArcGIS.

In this blog post you'll explore five Esri Tutorials designed to get you hands-on with object detection, deep learning, land cover extraction, and more.

In honor of our presidents, explore this StoryMap of the places they were born. And for fun, try out this new StoryMap Frames format of the same story and let us know what you think.

These stories highlight the transformative role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology in modernizing K–12 education across the United States. Through partnerships with organizations like the Missouri Botanical Garden and universities like Lehigh, educators are replacing traditional textbooks with interactive mapping tools to study local ecology, history, and social issues. Students utilize specialized software and hardware, such as drones and infrared sensors, to tackle real-world challenges like tracking wildfire risks to unhoused populations or analyzing watershed patterns. The initiatives emphasize professional development for teachers and provide students with industry-standard credentials, bridging the gap between classroom learning and future careers. Ultimately, these programs foster spatial literacy, enabling young learners to visualize complex data and better understand the world around them.

Esri consistently releases new contents, updates, and resources related to their products, solutions, apps, and applications, as well as best practices, success stories, recorded webinars, and more. Although these resources are posted in various locations, they can be difficult to find.

This blog provides a comprehensive list of all the January 2026 technical highlights and resources from Esri. It is a buffet-style list, so feel free to pick and choose the topics that interest you.

New free resources for schools!

Geography education and literacy support each other in meaningful ways - integrating reading and geographic learning can improve reading comprehension. Learn more about reading resources supporting common GIS-based activities for schools.

Deep in a densely wooded state forest in Virginia lies the ghost of a once-thriving community named Lucyville. For decades, Lucyville’s story remained buried, known only from fragmented memories and scattered records. But thanks to the curiosity and dedication of a group of middle school students, Lucyville’s legacy is being rediscovered and celebrated.