Latest Contributions by JosephKerski

What are the most important things for students to learn?  And given our world that is rapidly changing in its technology, social structures, demands on natural resources, and job market, how can we anticipate what students will need to learn in the future?  Furthermore, with higher education facing significant challenges, as I address here, how can administrators and faculty embrace these objectives?  In this essay and video, I describe the 10 most important things that I believe are important for student learning now and tomorrow, and I invite your feedback.  What do I really want students to learn?  The bulk of my career has been focused on teaching and learning across multiple disciplines with geotechnologies to foster spatial thinking and wise decision making in society.  My research is centered on the implementation and effectiveness of GIS in education, from primary and secondary on to higher education, lifelong learning, and informal educational settings.  Thus I really do care about this topic, and I know you do as well, reader of this Esri education blog. I would like the reader to take notice of three things here.  First, I titled this article, What I Really Want Students to Learn, instead of What I Really Want Students to Learn with GIS.  Why?  Yes, I do believe that applying GIS to solve problems is one of the very best ways to achieve these learning objectives, but I believe the tenets outlined here extend far beyond GIS.  Second, the title has the personal "I" in it because I wanted to share what motivates me to teach with GIS, but I believe that this essay contains elements of what drove all of us educators into the career of teaching.  Third, every course, workshop, and program has its deadlines, and associated elements that make up the content, such as quizzes, activities, readings, and other elements, but I want to focus here on the higher, nobler objectives and goals.  What do I really want students to learn?  1.  I want to instill an attitude of curiosity in students.  Being curious about the world opens so many doors for students--certainly in aiding them to obtain their dream job or career, but being curious has additional benefits.  Being curious instills a tenacity for everyday tasks--about solving problems, about figuring out how to use technology and other tools to solve those problems, as well.  Being tenacious helps one put in those late hours finishing a research project or finalizing a presentation so it is "just right." 2.  I want to encourage students to ask questions.  Asking questions is cited by many (from the fields of medicine, to communication, and many others) as the most important skill of all.  Asking deep and rich questions about their world will drive them forward in their work.  I encourage students to ask questions that your instructor is not even asking you--go deeper!  When you get to the workplace, ask questions that your supervisor or team lead is not even asking you:  Those are the kind of employees we value at Esri, as do our business partners, and as do employers in government, industry, academia, and the nonprofit world.  Asking questions drives your learning, the networks you develop, the methods you use, and the tools you use.  3. Given the complex, interconnected issues from local to global scale, including all the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), I want students to understand how to think holistically:  Consider how altering a variable in one sector or area could impact a variable in another sector or area.  Gaining deep content knowledge in one or two topics is important, whether it is volcano hazards, soil moisture, energy, demographic analysis, water quality, or anything else, but the world critically needs holistic thinkers that can think across disciplinary, political, and physical boundaries.  GIS is by its nature a disruptive toolset and way of thinking--it spans all of those boundaries, which is exactly what we need to solve our world's health, transportation, environmental, climate, habitat, energy, natural resource, and other challenges.   4.  I want students to think in terms of systems--this is a natural outgrowth of holistic thinking:  The ecosphere is connected to the biosphere, which is connected to the hydrosphere, the lithosphere, the cryosphere, and the anthroposphere.  Think also in terms of cycles--the carbon cycle, the hydrologic cycle, and others.  These tenets have deep roots in traditional indigenous content knowledge in many indigenous cultures around the world.  Everything is connected, including the challenges, and the solutions.    5.  I want students to understand how to think spatially--to be able to consider what is on, above, and below the world's surface.  I want them to be able to understand and articulate spatial patterns and trends, or the lack of patterns and trends, in 2D, 3D, and 4D, including changes over space and time.  GIS is one key way to see these patterns, because maps have for centuries provided us a way of seeing in a way that tables and plain text cannot quite do.   6.  I want students to understand how to gain content knowledge and expertise.  The world has changed from a place where knowledge was gained in one or two ways:  I want students to know how to learn from books and lectures from professors and others, yes, but also how to learn from mentors, from multimedia, from online lessons, by courses and programs, by using hands-on tools such as visualization and graphics and GIS tools, and from rich immersive field experiences.  I also want students to understand that no matter where they focus, they cannot possibly know everything about that domain--hence, networking is key--learning from others, through associations (including the Esri Young Professionals Network), events, technology tools such as LinkedIn, and other ways--including people and networks outside of your own field.  7.  I want students to understand how to gain skills in geotechnologies, communication, spatial statistics, and more.  GIS is by its nature a hands-on learn by doing type of toolset:  Therefore, each week, I encourage students to practice making a map, an app, a communications tool such as a dashboard or instant app or story map, to try a new analysis tool, or give a presentation to peers or at a conference. 8.  How can you build your community?  This will help you get "unstuck" when you encounter technical or other difficulties, but beyond that, it will enrich your professional and dare I say, personal life also. Seek those who can mentor you, but also seek those you can 'give back' to--who can you mentor, and help? 9.  I want to help students learn how and why to care about the Earth and its people.  There is no "Planet B" - this Earth is all we have.  Above, I inserted the personal life note because most of us in the geospatial community would say that we do like the technology, but more importantly, we love the people--the people in the community want to do all they can to help the Earth, and its people.  How can this trait of having empathy for people and the planet be developed?  I think it takes field experiences, connection to the community, and a deep realization that the Earth is not going to "heal itself" - it needs us to actively care for it, so that we and all living things can thrive.  This touches on tenacity--there is no "quick fix" - these issues are longstanding, deep, and will take commitment of all of us over the long term for certain trends to be changed and moving in a positive direction.   This also involves a lot of listening, and bridge building, even with people who may not see things exactly the way you do.  It involves:  Listening, caring, and cultivating.  10.  Last but not least,  how can you empower yourself to take action, and how can you encourage others to take action?  Using GIS is by its nature an action-oriented set of activities:  GIS was created to solve problems.  It is not enough to gain head knowledge on urban greenways, historic preservation, wildfires, or anything else:  This is important, but what are you going to do about your newfound knowledge?  For this content in video form, see my video here.  For additional skills I believe are necessary, including knowing how to work with and be critical of data, see my story map here.   See also my career advice in the Esri Young Professionals Network.  I believe these 10 items, in light of my earlier statement about how we can anticipate what students will need to learn in the future, will be even more important in the years to come. I look forward to your reactions! --Joseph Kerski ... View more

ArcGIS StoryMaps can be used effectively to teach about spatial patterns through interactive mapping enabled by Web GIS.  Use this storymap from our colleagues on the Story Maps team to teach about where traditional Thanksgiving foods are grown and created.    Turn the map into a quiz!  As I demonstrate in this video, consider turning the Thanksgiving harvest story map into a fun quiz that encourages spatial thinking.  Show each map in sequence, hiding the legend and the title, and draw attention to the latitude, proximity to coasts, landforms, and population in those areas where some of that food was grown, created, or harvested.   As you do, you are drawing on prior knowledge of what you know about the land use, climate, soils, elevation, and other characteristics of those areas where those crops are clustered, and where they are absent.  Consider making the quiz multiple choice by providing 3 possible answers for each map.  Each map contains pertinent information, such as the following (note that I am hiding the answer here):  "While the majority of harvested ____ are destined for use in ___ , ___ , and the like, many end up on Thanksgiving dinner tables as ____. Just two states—Idaho and Washington—provide more than half of the total U.S. crop."   Without looking at the map, can you guess what food is being referred to?  How helpful is looking at the map, below?   Which traditional Thanksgiving food produced is shown by this map?  How about the following?  It might be a little more challenging! Which traditional Thanksgiving food produced is shown by this map?  Is this easier or more difficult to discern than the first map? For another Thanksgiving-themed teaching resource, see the story map Pardoning Pickles by my creative Esri colleagues, here:  https://community.esri.com/t5/education-blog/a-geopuzzle-for-thanksgiving-pardoning-pickles/ba-p/1556080.  This story about returning a turkey to its home after receiving a Thanksgiving pardon is a geopuzzle--a site suitability analysis that incorporates a half dozen data layers to find Pickles' home. Some of my Thanksgiving favorites I share in this video.  But for many years, my family held non-traditional Thanksgiving dinners to celebrate the food cultures in other parts of the world.  If your family does something similar, why not use the agricultural census data, which I describe how to use, here, to examine where those foods are grown or created? Beyond Thanksgiving Day, use web maps and GIS agricultural data to help your students understand the patterns of crops and livestock, throughout the year.   A few of my favorite books in teaching about food production and consumption are Hungry Planet, by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio, with those striking images of theirs representing everything that families in many places around the world eat, and The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan.  What are your favorite books about the geography of food? Teaching about agriculture using interactive mapping and GIS leads to some fascinating discussions about climate, weather, land use, what different cultures eat, and other topics described above, but also foster connections to mathematics, statistics, physical geography, cultural geography, sociology, economics, business, and many other fields.  Review these story maps about food in the Story Map gallery and consider using them in your own instruction.  Once again, GIS serves as a bridge between disciplines.     ... View more

We have always been fascinated with our home:  The Earth.  Our oasis of life in the cosmos has been the subject of poetry, philosophy, music, paintings, scientific investigation, and—maps.  For centuries, maps stirred imaginations, inspired explorations of the unknown, and helped us understand our planet.  Far from the static documents of the past, today’s maps are interactive and digital, created by people using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS tools, methods, and data are essential to conservation and wise management and caring for the Earth, as is evident in the success stories in this conservation blog.  But unless GIS is taught and learned, it cannot be applied to conservation by decision makers.  How can teaching and learning with GIS be done, where should its principles be taught, and what benefits does GIS in conservation education offer?    Benefits of Teaching and Learning with GIS The benefits that teaching and learning with GIS offers includes spatial thinking, critical thinking, problem-based learning, data fluency, community connections, and others I list here.  GIS instruction fosters each of the Center for Ecoliteracy’s six core ecological concepts:  Networks, nested systems, cycles, flows, development, and dynamic balance. GIS allows variables to be input, modeled and modified so that the dynamics of environmental processes can be studied. Hungerford and Volk (1991) defined nine key ecological concepts necessary for environmental education programs:  Individuals and populations, interactions and interdependence, environmental influences and limiting factors, energy flow and nutrient cycling, community and ecosystem concepts, homeostasis, succession, humans as members of ecosystems, and ecological implications of human activities and communities.  GIS can enhance the teaching of these concepts as well as specific conservation topics such as biofuels and ecotones that I describe in the book Essentials of the Environment (Kerski and Ross 2006). Students on a Field Trip at Indiana Dunes.  Photograph by Joseph Kerski.   Connecting Learners with Real World Data and Issues Connecting students with real-world data and issues builds spatial bridges in the brain and appeals to multiple ways of learning. Students learn to transfer knowledge, to inquire strategically, and to solve problems with real data.  Spatial analysis appeals to today’s visual learners.  Using GIS provides a way of exploring a rich body of content and a framework for holistic thinking about the world. GIS provides a set of skills grounded in content standards and fosters critical thinking about data and methods.  These marketable skills help students get their “dream jobs” across many fields, including but not limited to conservation.  Students using GIS grapple with current, relevant issues including water quality, invasive species, climate change, and energy and food production, from local to global scale.  GIS enables these issues to be analyzed spatially because they all occur somewhere and change over space and time.  Students understand the big picture and how patterns and trends are related. Students become involved digital citizens that can use technology in meaningful ways to ask the “what if” questions, test hypotheses, and model scenarios.     Connections to Environmental Literacy and the UN SDGs Because GIS for teaching uses the same tools and approaches used by scientists, teaching with GIS also adheres well to the NAAEE’s four components of environmental literacy (NAAEE 2011): competencies, knowledge, dispositions, and environmentally responsible behavior.   Teaching with GIS also connects well with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including water quality and quantity, energy, climate, and sustainable urbanization and agriculture, and more.    Student collecting water quality data.  Photograph by Joseph Kerski. I contend that conservation principles and perspectives are too important to wait until students are at the university level but need to be taught and learned earlier in life. How can these GIS approaches be applied in the primary and secondary school environment?    Best Practices in Teaching and Learning Conservation Skills and Themes with GIS One project that I was honored to be a part of was this collaborative effort in climate and sustainability between Esri, a university, and secondary schools. The story map of activities demonstrates how climate and sustainability instruction was enriched and how students and faculty became engaged. I also contend that using GIS to teach conservation principles can and should be done across many disciplines, including environmental science, economics, psychology, data science, business, computer science, geography, GIScience, engineering, planning, and others. Teaching with GIS is most effective when it is action-oriented and includes hands-on activities.   Agricultural data on crops, grazing, and farming practices can be investigated using ArcGIS Online, the ArcGIS Living Atlas apps on water and ocean variables, changes in land cover, and others can serve as primary source research tools, and students can use tools such as iNaturalist and ArcGIS Survey123 to collect data that can then be mapped and analyzed.  They use ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, spatial statistics, and other tools to perform species distribution modeling, habitat prediction, and multivariate clustering for bioclimate region identification through these and other lessons. Students then use ArcGIS dashboards, instant apps, and story maps to communicate their results to their classmates, instructor, and even to the community beyond their own campus.  These visualizations encourage them and others to take action about the urban greenway or community gardens.  Students gain specific skills such as creating expressions, performing analysis, and data management. Through these approaches, students tackle ethical issues surrounding data and mapping.  In their future workplaces in academia, nonprofit, government, and industry, they become empowered to be positive change agents. Northeast Montana.  Photograph by Joseph Kerski. To learn more about ArcGIS solutions in conservation, visit our webpage. References Hungerford, Harold R., and Trudi L. Volk. 1998. Curriculum Development in Environmental Education for the Primary School: Challenges and Responsibilities. Essential Readings in Environmental Education. Champaign, IL: Stipes. Kerski, Joseph J., and Ross, Simon.  2006.  Essentials of the Environment.  Hodder Education, 336 p.  NAAEE. 2011. Developing a framework for assessing environmental literacy: Executive Summary. NSF project report. Washington, DC: North American Association for Environmental Education. ... View more

Join me for my annual GIS Day Live Webcast, where I will celebrate, discuss, and illustrate what people around the world are doing with Geographic Information Systems.  This webcast will include geo-songs, geo-quizzes, the definition of and impact of GIS to build a better world, and much more.  Yes, it will be recorded and published for those who wish to dig deeper into the links I share, or who are not able to join me in the live webcast.  Important:  This will be held the day before the official GIS Day, in part so that you all can host your own events or attend someone else’s event on GIS Day.   I am also conducting my live webcast on this particular day because I will be spending the rest of the week with the wonderful faculty and students at Texas Tech University. The live webcast will take place on Tuesday 19 November 2024, at 6:00 pm (1800) USA Eastern Time, 4:00pm (1600) USA Mountain Time, and 3:00pm (1500) USA Pacific Time.  See this video I made in the field to get a sense of what the webcast will be about: https://youtu.be/XzhTnYeUwWA?si=rCzgLPIaxyUoPa7R See this story map to get a more detailed view of what I will cover, and the links I will feature: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/64e3834e86f34d579a9d86022b6b0dee To join me for the live session: The webcast is free but you do need to register in advance, via: https://esri.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0oduyorDkrGtMqNWurkIkYLMmputtwpaXk After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. I will be conducting the webinar via Zoom, and all you need is a web browser and internet connection to attend.  The webinar will be free, fun, relevant, and fast-paced, with content on the following: What is GIS? Geo-songs! Books about mapping! Map is a verb, too! How does GIS help society? How to learn more about GIS? My favorite web mapping applications and GIS developments over the past year. Was Shakespeare a GIS-er? Geo-Quiz! Trends in GIS. Forces in GIS. Key skills important in your GIS journey.       ... View more

In this essay I share a hands-on workshop with a goal of assisting faculty who wish to teach about climate principles, processes, and events by incorporating spatial and temporal thinking with modern GIS tools and spatial data.  The content for the workshop is here: https://www.josephkerski.com/a-climate-gis-workshop/ This resource includes: --fundamentals --points of discussion --10 hands-on activities. --Resources for further exploration. I have tested and taught this workshop in online and face-to-face settings this year and have refined the materials each time.  This material is suitable for undergraduate or graduate students, and the first few activities can be used in secondary schools, as well.   Some background with GIS is helpful but not required.  All of the activities use web GIS--apps and ArcGIS Online analysis tools.  All of the data for the activities is public open source data.  About half of the activities require a log in to ArcGIS Online.  For deeper dives with ArcGIS Pro, I provide links to tutorials and lessons.  I am not a climate scientist and therefore this workshop does not offer a deep dive into climate modeling:  I provide links to these types of resources in the above workshop materials.  However, as a geographer and educator, my goal is to empower faculty to teach important topics such as climate with GIS, and by extension, their students to learn climate processes and events. I also hope to encourage students to consider how they can use GIS to understand climate as they journey forward in their careers.  Why?  Because every career ultimately hinges on climate--from supply chains in business to management of natural resources, from energy to water, and so much more.  I do hope this is useful to many!   --Joseph Kerski  ... View more