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The August GeoMentors Community Newsletter is now available!   ... View more

Each month we'll feature at least one GeoMentor volunteer, learning more about them and the wonderful and enthusiastic talent available in our GeoMentor community to assist K-12 schools with GIS and geography applications for their classrooms. Read about our currently featured member of the community below, or check out previously featured GeoMentors by using the navigation links on the right. If you are interested in being featured, go here for more information.  We are excited to learn more about our GeoMentor community members! If you aren't a GeoMentor yet, we'd love to have you participate! April 2016 Geomentor Spotlight Jonathan Adams, Western Illinois University Position/ Affiliation: Graduate Student in Department of Geography at Western Illinois University What was your favorite class in K-12? My favorite classes in school were social studies and the science classes such as earth science and physics. I loved learning about different places in the world, the earth processes that occurred at various places all over the world and the science behind those processes. How did you first learn about and/or use GIS? I first learned and used GIS in my first year of college at Western Illinois University. GIS is a major tool that many of the professors used and thus was placed in the curriculum from the start. I found it gratifying to create my own maps and display data in a visual way to make it more understandable. Name one thing you love about GIS and/or geography (I know, just one!):  One thing I love about GIS/Geography is the way that everything in the world has a spatial component, and being able to identify and understand the spatial relationships is very important to understanding many natural and social phenomena. Why did you want to volunteer as a GeoMentor? I volunteered as a GeoMentor to reach out and teach younger students the importance of GIS and spatial thinking. GIS has various applications in many fields, and introducing students to these can potentially spark their interest in one of them. The GeoMentor Program is also a huge part of the WIU Student Society of Geography’s mission to promote interest and awareness of the discipline of geography. What kind of GeoMentor volunteer opportunity and experience are you looking for?  GIS is such a great tool to have in your bag, so to say, and so I hope that my mentoring of K-12 students provides them the interest and understanding of GIS, giving them an advantage over others when they move on to college and beyond. Additionally, I hope my mentoring shows teachers that GIS is means to enhance their curriculum. If someone asked you why they should learn about GIS and/or geography, how would you respond in one sentence?  Understanding geography and GIS not only allows you to answer questions about where things happen but goes one step further to allow you to answer why things happen where they do. Email address: Adams.JonathanA@gmail.com Twitter: @smada_nahtanoj LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-adams-591336aa Interested in being featured? Go here for more information. We are excited to learn more about you! ... View more

Check out the latest GeoMentor Community Newsletter for the monthly mentor challenge, our GeoMentor Spotlight, Featured Resources, and more! ... View more

Check out the latest GeoMentor Community Newsletter for the monthly mentor challenge, our GeoMentor Spotlight, Featured Resources, and more! ... View more

Check out the latest GeoMentor Community Newsletter for the monthly mentor challenge, our GeoMentor Spotlight, Featured Resources, and more!  Going to the AAG's Annual Meeting in San Francisco?  Learn about the GeoMentors program presence there! ... View more

Each month we'll feature at least one GeoMentor volunteer, learning more about them and the wonderful and enthusiastic talent available in our GeoMentor community to assist K-12 schools with GIS and geography applications for their classrooms.Read about our currently featured member of the community below, or check out previously featured GeoMentors by using the navigation links on the right. If you are interested in being featured, go here for more information.  We are excited to learn more about our GeoMentor community members! If you aren't a GeoMentor yet, we'd love to have you participate! February 2016 GeoMentor Spotlight Marci Johnson - Biologist, National Park Service What was your favorite class in K-12? Anatomy How did you first learn about and/or use GIS? I took a course during my last semester at the University of Colorado, but by graduation that spring the software I had learned was already obsolete.  It wasn't until I moved to Glacier National Park that my boss taught me to use ArcView v.3 to help plan a bear project. Name one thing you love about GIS and/or geography:  Analyzing wildlife habitat use and movement data. Why did you want to volunteer as a GeoMentor?  I've enjoyed helping students using ArcGIS Online for science fair projects and always learn new skills when I help others. What kind of GeoMentor volunteer opportunity and experience are you looking for?  I would welcome requests for help on a project or questions about the work I do. If someone asked you why they should learn about GIS and/or geography, how would you respond in one sentence? GIS skills are valuable in many careers, including wildlife biology, and offer young people a way to apply interests in computers, technology, and design into their work.  By adding a spatial component you will find yourself answering questions that you had never thought to ask. Email address:  marci_johnson@nps.gov Website:  Our blog highlights some of the work we do in the Western Arctic National Parklands: http://www.nps.gov/kova/blogs/runningherd.htm If you are interested in being featured, visit here for more information. ... View more

Each month we'll feature at least one GeoMentor volunteer, learning more about them and the wonderful and enthusiastic talent available in our GeoMentor community to assist K-12 schools with GIS and geography applications for their classrooms.Read about our currently featured member of the community below, or check out previously featured GeoMentors by using the navigation links on the right. If you are interested in being featured, go here for more information.  We are excited to learn more about our GeoMentor community members! If you aren't a GeoMentor yet, we'd love to have you participate!   January 2016 GeoMentor Spotlight Brian King - GIS Analyst / Archeologist Position/Job/Affiliation: GIS Anaylst V / Archeologist at Freese and Nichols, Inc,, Austin, Texas; Staff Grade at the Pennsylvania State University, Dutton e-Education Institute, World Campus. Past-President URISA Texas (2012-2015); present Vice-President URISA Texas (2016). National Information Security, Geospatial Technologies Consortium (NISGTC), Board Member, since 2013. What was your favorite class in K-12? History How did you first learn about and/or use GIS? I started using GIS while working in Cultural Resource Management (CRM). I used ArcGIS to depict archeological site boundaries and the location of shovel tests and backhoe trench excavations across the site.  A lot of my field data was collected using a Trimble GPS unit and I used a GIS for mapping.  I enjoyed GIS so much that I earned my masters degree from Pennsylvania State University. Name one thing you love about GIS and/or geography: A GIS allows people to spatially organize large datasets, visually view complex issues, and ask questions that lead to wise decision making. Why did you want to volunteer as a GeoMentor?  Most people have no idea what a GIS is and do not realize how embedded it is in our daily lives.  Introducing K-12 students to Geography and GIS will change how they view the world and provide them with valuable skills that can be utilized once they enter the working world. What kind of GeoMentor volunteer opportunity and experience are you looking for?  I am interested in exposing elementary students to GIS and showing them how it can help them better understand the world.  GIS is a tool that students can use again and again as their education progresses, as well as provide them with an enjoyable skill once school is finished. If someone asked you why they should learn about GIS and/or geography, how would you respond in one sentence?  People who study GIS and Geography are in a better position to ask analytical questions and make rational decisions on topics that impace the earth (i.e. flooding, crime analyses, population distribution, predictive models, etc.) Email address: bck@freese.com; bcking00@yahoo.com Website(s): http://urisatexas.org/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/briancking If you are interested in being featured, visit here for more information. ... View more

City/State of School, School District, or Group:  Kemmerer, Wyoming Grade level of students you or your educator collaborator work/worked with: 7th Subject/topic of class/group you assisted your collaborator with (if applicable):  Creating an editable interactive map using ArcGIS Online. This interactive map mapped the parks in the Kemmerer area and used the attributes of # of slides, swings, and picnic tables to help the students determine which park is best for a sibling that prefers slides over swings. The students did the editing and filling out of attributes. After the map was setup, we used ArcGIS Online templates and I allowed the students to edit the map from my smartphone. How many students were engaged in GIS activities through this collaboration (if applicable):  40 students (2 classes, 20 in each class) How did you connect with your collaborator?  I reached out to the teacher to ask if I could teach her 7th grade classes on GIS Day. Describe your collaboration process.  We communicated over email for about 2 weeks to schedule the time and date. I personally chose the topic of Interactive Maps due to an interest I have seen with kids at that age. I knew they would jump onto an idea of making a map that was live to the world. Describe the tasks you assisted your collaborator with.  The teacher was not familiar with GIS. So, the topic I taught the kids was meant to introduce her to ArcGIS Online and the possibility to use it in the classroom. I also left information for her to try to setup ArcGIS online for the school. What available resources, if any, did you use or help your collaborator use to implement GIS in K-12 education? I reviewed some of the information on the GeoMentors website, but ultimately I felt I would go in my own direction. I created the lesson on my own and setup the data for the lesson. I used primarily www.arcgis.com for the use of ArcGIS Online and the templates. Did you develop any new educational material or GIS activities through your collaboration? I put together a work flow to create a map that depicted the parks in the Kemmerer Area that had attributes of the # of slides, swings, and picnic tables. This was geared to them trying to decide which park was the best for a sibling that preferred slides over swings or vice versa. Ultimately, they were able to edit the parks layer on my smart phone in class. Did you work directly with students at all, or just with educators?  I worked with students and educators. What did you gain from the experience? What do you think your educator collaborator and/or the students gained? I learned a bit more about ArcGIS Online for my own professional use. I also learned that when you add a smartphone or tablet to the lesson, the students really perk up. I feel that the students learned that even at their age, they can create maps for decision making and that those maps can be shared with others. The teacher was impressed enough to want me back next year to teach her 7th graders again. Any additional comments about your experience?             It was really fun to introduce something to the teacher and the students that I'm passionate about. Check out more GeoMentor Case Studies here! ... View more

Check out the latest GeoMentor Community Newsletter for the monthly mentor challenge, our GeoMentor Spotlight, Featured Resources, and more! ... View more

Check out the latest GeoMentor Community Newsletter for the monthly mentor challenge, our GeoMentor Spotlight, Featured Resources, and more! ... View more

To both document program activity and learn from the efforts of our volunteers, we invite our GeoMentors to submit their experiences as program case studies through this online form. City/State of School, School District, or Group:  Conway, South Carolina Grade level of students you or your educator collaborator work/worked with: Coaching educators of 6th-12th grade students Subject/topic of class/group you assisted your collaborator with:  Subjects which can be taught through a GIS curriculum (including history, geometry, health, social studies, science, and marine science) Approximately how many students were engaged in GIS activities through this collaboration:  18 educators in attendance. How did you connect with your collaborator? Approximately one year ago, a representative of Workforce Development within the SC Department of Commerce, reached out to me about becoming a speaker at the annual Career Day event at a middle school. This began a series of conversations about how GIS can be taught in schools and the benefit it would provide to students and teachers. The Work-Based Learning Specialist with the school district was contacted, and thus began the partnership between the City of Myrtle Beach GIS and Horry County Schools. Describe your collaboration process. We held several telephone conversations and met a couple of times over the course of a 4-month period. I was able to speak with the school district superintendent and with the technology teachers within the school district. We decided that it would be best to conduct a special GIS workshop for educators based on the encouraging responses received. Describe the tasks you assisted your collaborator with. An “Educators in GIS” workshop was held on October 22, 2015, focusing on the ArcGIS Online platform. The workshop was conducted at Horry-Georgetown Technical College and was very well-received. There were a total of 18 attendees, including not only instructors, but also school district staff, the Information Technology Director for Horry-Georgetown Technical College, a representative from a private GIS firm, the Workforce Development representative, and members of Florence County, SC GIS. There are plans in the works to offer more workshops in the future in Georgetown County and in the Columbia, SC area. The objectives of the workshop were to explore the meaning of GIS; to view real world GIS applications; to comprehend how GIS is used in education and other industries; and to examine the options for implementing GIS in the classroom. What available resources, if any, did you use or help your collaborator use to implement GIS in K-12 education? Spatial thinking was certainly one of the main topics of discussion, which the attendees seemed to understand and accept as a new way of engaging students. The participants agreed that today's students are far more educated by the time they reach middle school than we were as students! GIS provides a different, fun, and innovative way to explore and learn various subjects. The workshop contained numerous websites which showed how GIS is used in everyday applications, such as weather (local TV station), real estate (www.zillow.com), E-911 (discussion of how GIS data is uploaded to the E-911 CAD system), and Google and Bing maps. The attendees were also provided with the following sites to investigate: http://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/?appid=c369c6d9bb6d4232bb3ad066cd5b9280 http://www.esri.com/connected https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/technology/techhire http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2015/presidential-colleges/ https://maps.esri.com/demo/ City of Myrtle Beach Aerial Imagery: https://pol.pictometry.com/en-us/app/login.php https://www.arcgis.com/home/ Did you develop any new educational material or GIS activities through your collaboration? Workshop participants brought their laptops and mobile devices for a hands on tutorial on how to make a map in ArcGIS Online. They were also taught how to make story maps. Later discussion following the workshop led to the probability of introducing Story Map Making as an event at the Technology Student Association (TSA) national competition. What did you gain from the experience? What do you think your educator collaborator and/or the students gained? The experience was definitely a win-win. I learned more about the inner workings of the schools and how they are thirsting to be innovative. Horry County Schools has come a long way over the years to become one of the top school districts in the state of SC. Just this year, three (3) Horry County Schools were designated National Blue Ribbon Schools. The attendees were thrilled to explore a new way of teaching, and were a little surprised at the ease of using ArcGIS Online. They were grateful for the free school accounts available, and look forward to creating GIS-based lesson plans. Any additional comments about your experience? Educators are certainly embracing the technology as evidenced in the many e-mails and phone calls I have received in regards to speaking about GIS at more schools, which I am more than happy to oblige! In addition to various speaking engagements at the middle and high school levels, I will be spending GIS Day 2015 with the marine science students at Carolina Forest High School. The Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology (AAST) will be piloting the first GIS curriculum in Horry County Schools by spring 2016 or fall 2016. I will be acting as a GeoMentor for this endeavor and will be glad to provide an update when the time comes. The next goal will be to work with the local technical schools to implement a GIS curriculum as either a certificate program or as an Associate’s Degree. This will provide a bridge for high school students to further their education. A preliminary meeting was held on November 13, 2015 with an Information Technology staff member from Horry-Georgetown Technical College to discuss how a GIS curriculum may be introduced, possibly by Fall 2016. I am encouraged by the enthusiastic response of the college, thus far. I look forward to many more GeoMentoring opportunities! Do you have a GeoMentoring experience you would like to share as a program case study?  Submit yours today through this online form. ... View more

Check out the latest GeoMentor Community Newsletter for the monthly mentor challenge, our GeoMentor Spotlight, Featured Resources, and more! ... View more

To both document program activity and learn from the efforts of our volunteers, we invite our GeoMentors to submit their experiences as program case studies through this online form. City/State of School, School District, or Group:  Schools throughout the State of Delaware Grade level of students you or your educator collaborator work/worked with: 5th grade Subject/topic of class/group you assisted your collaborator with:  Geography, Social Studies Approximately how many students were engaged in GIS activities through this collaboration:  490 How did you connect with your collaborator?  In Delaware we have a GIS Day Committee. Through this committee we hold a field trip every year for 5th grade classes. This field trip takes place at the Air Command Mobility Museum in Dover. We are in our 8th year holding this event. You can find more information from our website here: http://www.mygeoworld.org/news-and-events/de-gis-day/. At our field trip we can only hold 240 students, so this year we are taking parts of the field trip on the road to two other schools, allowing us to connect for even more students than ever. Describe your collaboration process.  We communicate with all the teachers by email and through post office mail. We create name tags for all the students and place them in groups. We place the students from each school in groups, which consists of approximately 15 students each. Volunteers (GIS mentors) throughout the state assist with setting up the GIS related stations, which each of the student groups travel to. The students are at each station for approximately 30 minutes and they see about 17 stations. We make sure to accommodate any special needs that the children might have as well. Describe the tasks you assisted your collaborator with.  Each of the stations vary, so the students are exposed and involved in many careers all relating in some way to GIS. We have the Kent County Mobile Command unit come and show how they use GIS in 911 situations. The kids also get to learn about Delaware Soils from NRCS and walk away with their very own soil sample. Another station is a hands-on GIS lab which the students take an hour to do an ArcGIS Online exercise. They also learn how to fly on a flight simulator and then they get into a 20' Earth Balloon from the Delaware Children's museum to learn about the Earth. We also have the students learn about aerial photography by having them trace different features on the map using transparencies and they get to take them home as well. What available resources, if any, did you use or help your collaborator use to implement GIS in K-12 education? http://www.mygeoworld.org/news-and-events/de-gis-day/ http://edcommunity.esri.com/Resources/Collections/mapping-our-world#ago http://www.gisday.com/ https://www.udel.edu/johnmack/frec682/cholera/cholera2.html Did you develop any new educational material or GIS activities through your collaboration? We are going to use this resource this year: https://www.udel.edu/johnmack/frec682/cholera/cholera2.html and have created a new station based on this, so the kids can learn about the importance of spatial patterns. We are excited to show the students the history of GIS this year. What did you gain from the experience? What do you think your educator collaborator and/or the students gained? The GIS Day Committee consists of seven people, we also have approximately 18 volunteers and 17 station chiefs for the day of the event. We all gain so much knowledge from hosting this event. We learn from the kids and what questions they ask and what their experience is. We also learn from the educators how they experienced the event. We provide a survey each year, so we can continue to improve and make it the most memorable experience. The kids are exposed to approximately 15 different careers in GIS, which is exciting. Any additional comments about your experience? We all love being a GeoMentor! ... View more

To both document program activity and learn from the efforts of our volunteers, we invite our GeoMentors to submit their experiences as program case studies through this online form. City/State of School, School District, or Group:  Saint Petersburg, Florida Grade level of students you or your educator collaborator work/worked with: 9-11 Subject/topic of class/group you assisted your collaborator with:  AP Human Geography Approximately how many students were engaged in GIS activities through this collaboration:  22 How did you connect with your collaborator?               I had a personal contact at the school already and he gave me the teacher's contact information. I then reached out to her to discuss opportunities. Describe your collaboration process.  We had emailed back and forth probably four times. We then met face-to-face to discuss how I might benefit her students utilizing the GM program. We continued to email before I was a guest speaker in her two AP human geography classes. Describe the tasks you assisted your collaborator with.             The teacher allowed me to have the full class period of one hour to discuss with her students the fundamental of GIS. The students and I then walked through the 5x5 activity sheet as a group, but each student on their own individual computer.                       The teacher had done a free trial of the desktop version of ArcGIS but when the trial ran out, she did not pursue it further. I assisted her via email with the online program and activities as she wanted to have completed the activities prior to the students being introduced to the application. What available resources, if any, did you use or help your collaborator use to implement GIS in K-12 education? Thinking Spatially using GIS; 5 Activities in 5 minutes What did you gain from the experience? What do you think your educator collaborator and/or the students gained? I have given talks in front of professionals as part of my higher education in the field of environmental science for about three years now. But the ability to be able to take knowledge for which I have passion, and relate it to teenagers in a classroom setting was something completely new. I gained familiarity in reading students and was able to practice techniques in instilling excitement in them. My educator collaborator was able to learn along with her students. She expressed to me after the class how she wished the school would allow her, send her, to professional development courses over the summer so that she could implement this type of learning on her own. Although she expressed great appreciation for my coming in to her classroom to share my knowledge and experiences, she also expressed concern about disrupting her, ready tight, curriculum schedule. ... View more

Calling all Colorado GeoMentors!  Judges are needed for Geospatial Technology Events for the Colorado Technology Student Association!  Check the attached flyer for details and/or contact the TSA State Advisor, Tony Raymond, at tony.raymond@cccs.edu. ... View more