Latest Contributions by JosephKerski

Hi everyone: I created a series of videos about creating story maps, with an emphasis on using them for teaching and learning: Esri Story Maps for Education II - YouTube‌ --Joseph Kerski ... View more

5 Important Skills Necessary for Success with GIS, Part 3 of 3 ... View more

5 Important Skills Necessary for Success with GIS, Part 2 of 3 ... View more

5 Skills Important for Success in GIS, Part 1 of 3 ... View more

Mapping field data can serve as project-based learning environments that promote environmental, social, and technological fluency, as I wrote about in Earthzine, and as others such as Richard Louv have written about much more eloquently than I.  What are seven easy ways in which you can map field-collected data?  I have recorded a three-part video series (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) wherein I describe all seven ways. These ways include (1) via files and spreadsheets that are stored locally on your computer, (2) via files and spreadsheets that are stored online, (3) via shared web forms, (4) via smartphone apps, including the Collector for ArcGIS app, (5) via editing of ArcGIS Online map notes, (6) via uploading of your geospatial data to ArcGIS Online, and (7) via editable feature services. which enables true citizen science mapping in the sense that you can "crowdsource your fieldwork" as my colleague Charlie Fitzpatrick has written about. As I hope these videos demonstrate, it is very easy not only to bring in your field-collected data into ArcGIS Online, but to map and analyze it there.  But I can’t give all of the details away:  Watch the videos to find out! Seven Ways to Map Your Field Data, including Crowdsourcing Your Fieldwork. ... View more

What are the five most important skills that a successful professional in GIS should have? I have recorded a three-part video series (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) wherein I address this important issue. I begin the video series by presenting two ways of thinking about GIS in your career:  (1) As a toolset that you use in your career as a biologist, public safety officer, marketing analyst, or in another career where GIS is listed only as a required or advised set of skills;  and (2) As a GIS manager, technician, analyst, or another career where GIS or a variant is a part of the title and primary job duties. I see GIS as a three-legged stool, one that incorporates content knowledge, skills, and the geographic perspective.  In other words, the skills alone will not guarantee success, but are a fundamental part of it.  Equally important is the content knowledge--whether in GIScience, meteorology, energy, water resources, planning, or another field.  Finally, don't be discouraged by my mention of the geographic perspective if you feel inadequate here.  It is one of the most interesting parts of the stool, and one that might take years to develop.  Indeed, as most things in GIS, it is a lifelong endeavor, which leads me to my #1 top skill:  I can't give it away:  Watch the video to find out! The Top 5 Skills you need for a successful career in GIS. I realize that many "Top" lists are subjective, mine included.  Yet I purposely used this format for this list precisely so that the can be debated, argued, and modified.  I invite you to do so by posting your reflections and comments. ... View more

Most everyone I know in the geospatial field feels passionate about their work, and many seek ways to spread awareness about GIS beyond the geospatial community.  So it was with enthusiasm that I agreed to participate recently with the organizers of the History Colorado museum's "COmingle" event.  With the "CO" referring to Colorado, and the "mingle" referring to its after-hours "fun evening with friends or a date" focus, COmingle is an "offbeat mix of games, trivia, demonstrations, exhibit adventures, performances, and hands-on activities", with food and "a whole lot of Colorado spirit." The activity I decided to host there was "Geography Quiz Night", because I had the perfect venue on which to do it--a giant basketball court-sized terrazzo map of the state of Colorado.  I dubbed it "G Harmony," or "Geography harmony." I wanted the quiz to be active, so for each of the 10 questions in each quiz, I asked the participants to stand on the location of the state to indicate what they thought was the correct answer.  I handed out prizes to the individuals or teams with the most correct, least correct, or more creative answers so everyone could win a prize.  The prizes were a combination of books, gift cards, and posters from me (Esri) and the History Colorado museum. Joseph Kerski, center, walking "toward Colorado Springs", conducting Colorado quiz on map of the state. I conducted two quizzes during the evening, and my questions included, "Which county has the largest agricultural output?", "Where is the lowest point in the state?", "Where was the coldest temperature ever recorded in the state?", "What tiny town saw its high school boys basketball team beat all odds to become state champions in 1929 and 1930?", "Where is the 3rd largest city in Colorado?, and "Where is State Highway 1?" As I was giving the questions, I talked about mapping and GIS.  Challenge yourself with the complete list of my questions here. I had announced this event to the Colorado GIS community and education community, and so it proved to be a nice relaxed setting to meet new colleagues, in addition to others from outside geography and GIS, including innovative programmers from Oh Heck Yeah! who created a kinesthetic computer game people played there. What might you do to reach out and bring your community together to spread geography and GIS in innovative and fun ways? ... View more

Awhile back, I completed a long time goal:  I applied to the GIS Certification Institute and became a certified professional in GIS (GISP).  The GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) is a tax-exempt not-for-profit organization that provides the geographic information systems (GIS) community with an internationally-recognized, complete certification program.  The Institute is comprised of leading non-profit associations (AAG, NSGIC, UCGIS, URISA, GLIS, and others) focused on the application of GIS and geospatial technology. GISCI offers participants, from the first early years on the job until retirement, a positive method of developing value for professionals and employers in the GIS profession. GISP has a fascinating history and there are now over 10,000 active GISPs located throughout the world.  For more, see my video here. GIS Certification Institute. A GISP is therefore a certified geographic information systems (GIS) professional.  A GISP has met the minimum standards for educational achievement, professional experience, and manner in which he or she contributes back to the profession. A GISP must abide by higher guidelines for ethical behavior.  A GISP continues to educate and reeducate him or herself while preparing for recertification.  A GISP has had their professional background scrutinized and reviewed by the GISCI, an independent, third party organization.   A GISP can reside anywhere in the world;  active GISPs are currently found in all 50 States and 25 foreign countries.  A GISP is more than a practitioner of GIS technology:  A GISP is a professional, engaged in the profession and networking with other professionals. The current GISP Certification process consists of an application that describes an applicant's background in (1) ethics, (2) education, (3) experience, and (4) contributions to the Profession.  It also includes a rigorous but necessary exam.  Once that application, accompanying documentation, exam, and payment are submitted, the review generally takes from 30 to 45 days for approval.  Selected GISPs are performing groundbreaking work in the process of continually improving the exam as GIS continues to evolve.  The exam was originally based on the Geospatial Technical Competency Model (GTCM) that was approved by the Department of Labor in 2010. Are you a busy GIS professional and think this process will take a long time?  Not to worry.  Bill Hodge, Tony Spicci, and the other staff at GISCI and GIS professionals have labored long and hard on the application process to make it as straightforward as possible.  Although it takes awhile to assemble the necessary documentation and write the statements you need, (1) It took much less time than I had expected, particularly since I maintain an active curriculum vita.  (2) Becoming GISP was absolutely worth doing.  Upon receiving my acceptance letter and certificate, I was proud to have attained this achievement, and more importantly, to give back to my profession that has given so much to me. ... View more

Web maps, web apps, story maps ... these and other new terms are frequently used in the new world of cloud based GIS.  Sorting through the lexicon of any field is critical to understanding it and to teach it.  What are the similarities and differences between these terms, and how does one decide when to use each of them? All three of these terms refer to a web map dynamically stored in the cloud, or a remote server, so that the map user can interact with it in various ways.  By "interact", I mean change the scale, extent, classification, or symbology, add or subtract data, filter data, analyze spatial relationships, and more.  Depending on your goals, you may want to create and use one or all three of these types of maps.  The way that maps are created and stored in the ArcGIS Online cloud to begin with is via a web map.  Let me illustrate with an example showing a bicycling trip I took from New York City to New Jersey following one of the Association of American Geographers conferences.  Upon the completion of my trip, I created a web map in ArcGIS Online showing my bicycling route, which I captured using a GPS device that I carried with me.  I recorded my route as a track, and I added that track as a GPX file to ArcGIS Online.  I saved the resulting map as a standard ArcGIS Online web map, which I shared with everyone so that can look at it as well, in the link above and shown below. Bicycle Route, New York City to New Jersey, shown in ArcGIS Online. Users of your ArcGIS Online maps will not only be able to access your map as you have created it, but they can also save it into their own ArcGIS Online account and make changes to it.  For example, I started with the map above and wanted to analyze the median age along my route.  I easily added that layer to it and saved it as a new map. Bicycling Route from New York City to New Jersey with Median Age. But now let's say I want to create a map with multiple panels, each showing a different map theme, or a map showing a 3D profile of my bicycling route.  This is where web apps come in.  A web app is an application, and ArcGIS Online provides a number of useful web app templates that you can use, or you can configure your own.  I think of it this way:  If you want your map user to have access to the full array of ArcGIS Online tools, publish your map as an ArcGIS Online web map.  But if you want specific tools and functions to be available to your users, and you don't want them to be distracted by the other tools and functions in ArcGIS Online, then publish your map as a web app.  How can you do this?  When you are saving your map, simply indicate that you wish to publish to a web app, and you will be presented with a list of options. To illustrate a web app, I created a web app from my ArcGIS Online map to show the 3D profile of my cycling route along with the median age. New York City to New Jersey elevation profile, with median age, web app. Story maps, about which we frequently write in this blog because of their great utility in education, are simply a specific type of web apps.  A whole set of story map apps exist to choose from.  One type of story map is a storytelling text and legend. which I used to create the story of my experience, with tabs indicating streets with my cycling route, income, tapestry lifestyle and consumer behavior, and diversity. Bicycling Route from New York City to New Jersey as a storymap web app. Thus, it is important to think about your goals when making any map and doing any analysis.  Good planning is always worth it!  Web maps, web apps, and storymaps all have great utility in education.  Or, to use the common vernacular, "it's all good." ... View more

A staggering amount of literature exists about the use of technology in the classroom.  But what sort of technology?  This may sound obvious,  but I am interested in fostering the use of meaningful technologies in education.  Just because a technology exists does not in my mind mean that we need to dedicate valuable class time on it - it has to meet educational goals, foster inquiry, allow students to be creative and to solve problems, provide important career and life skills, for example.  I believe that using geospatial technologies with spatial thinking, including GIS, is not just interesting, but is a critically tool and perspective for 21st Century education and society. A recent survey by digedu.com found that 50% of K-12 teachers get inadequate support for using technology in the classroom.   Matt Tullman, co-founder and president of digedu. said, “It is critical that we move quickly to address barriers to meaningful use of technology in schools so that students are equipped with the digital fluency necessary to succeed in our global economy.”  I agree.  My colleagues and I on the Esri education team are dedicated to doing all we can in partnership with the global geospatial education community to reduce barriers to the use of technology in the classroom.   In the survey, 46% reported that they lack the training needed to use technology effectively with students.  By authoring tutorials, videos, short essays in this blog and elsewhere, providing face-to-face professional development at conferences such as AAG and NSTA and in institutes such as T3G, lessons, supporting educational research, and via other means, we hope to help reduce that gap.  The evolution of GIS onto the cloud through ArcGIS Online seems to break down many technological barriers, such as software installation and computer lab maintenance.  Other challenges remain, but I have been very encouraged recent progress of the use of GIS tools in education.  For example, the St Vrain Valley School District in Colorado is starting a semester-long GIS course in their STEM program, incorporating ArcGIS into their AP Human Geography course at the high school, and using ArcGIS in their history, geography, and language arts curriculum at the middle school level. The survey also found that 93% percent reported that technology has a positive effect on student engagement.  We have witnessed the deep engagement that students have when using geospatial technologies in the classroom and in the field, such as using 2D and 3D maps and visualizations, collecting and analyzing their own data, and communicating their results in multimedia-rich ways to their instructors, peers, and community groups. Educators, administrators, and students are embracing geospatial technologies as never before.  Why? Educational, societal, and technological forces are all playing a role, such STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) education, career and technology education, critical thinking, the geo-location of everyday devices, an increased awareness of the value of spatial thinking, improved bandwidth, problem-based learning, and others. GIS is being incorporated into the St Vrain Valley School District STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) program. What can we collectively do as a community to continue to break down barriers to the use of these powerful and easy-to-use tools to enhance and enrich education? ... View more

One question that we frequently receive here on the Esri education team is, "What is the size of the geospatial industry?"  Whether the question is asked in reference to a paper someone is researching, or because someone wants to obtain a sense of the "stability"of the industry when deciding whether to pursue GIScience for their career, or for some other reason, the question is a valid one, but it is difficult to definitively answer. Up through the mid 1990s, while employed at the USGS, I used to consult an annual paper book on the size of GIS to answer this question.  Back then, it was a modest sized community of government, academia, nonprofit, and industry who were involved with producing, serving, and using geospatial data, software, and services.  But since then we have seen an explosion of geospatial technologies and data surround us in many forms and on many devices, and an expansion of users far beyond the traditional sciences and planning "core" into business, health, and just about every industry that exists.  This makes answering the question increasingly difficult.  It might be akin to "what is the size of the chemical, transportation, or <you fill in the blank" industries?"  All are enormous and have fuzzy boundaries. Nevertheless, a few documents are helpful in at least getting an estimate of the size of the geospatial industry.   Geospatial World reported in their December 2013 issue on page 18 and following that the global geospatial industry brings in $270 billion in annual revenue, and companies in the sector pay more than $90 billion in wages each year.  This stemmed from a report published by Oxera in January 2013.  Equally interesting are the figures of how much travel time is saved annually due to geospatial technology (1.1 billion) and petrol saved (3.5 billion liters).  According to the Oxera report, this means that geospatial is 5 to 10 times larger than the video game industry, and at least one third the size of the global airline industry.  Geospatial is so large because "digital imagery and location-based services are essential components in resource management, supply chain logistics, infrastructure design, telecommunications, and national defense.  Also consider the manufacturing industry involved with creating consumer products, as well as the satellite and space industry needed to make it all work."  Additionally, Geospatial World author Sanjay wrote this article about the business value and the major technology and solution companies. Finally, Daratech has researched and published comprehensive surveys of the size of the geospatial industry. One way of getting a sense of the size and diversity of the geospatial industry is to visit the Exhibit Hall at the Esri International User Conference. I am amazed at what I see there each year.  Another way is to visit http://www.esri.com/industries. No matter what the size of the geospatial industry, one thing is clear:  Geospatial technology is here to stay.  As our world faces more complex and interconnected issues in this century that increasingly impact our everyday lives, the "where" questions will be increasingly asked.  And the technology to answer those questions will be GIS. ... View more