Latest Contributions by TomBaker

Explore the map of state mandated US school closings from COVID-19 or add the feature service to your own maps. Data from March 18, 2020. Data: https://edresources.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=5e3e07494d8347b29e6751e0c25dcc7a&view=table#overview   Map: https://edresources.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=febc9737c6d4473cbff8ef06be0b9d06   ... View more

Is your school or district rapidly planning to move courses online? General K12 resources for COVID-19 moving courses online Blog post: Teaching, GIS, and the Corona virus Blog post: When school is disrupted Blog post: When school is disrupted 2 Recorded webinar: Teaching history during COVID-19 outbreak  Blog post: Student GIS activities for parents...... Webinar: Learn How to Teach with GIS When School is Disrupted Online short course: The Mapping Hour for Parents and Teachers Specific resources to consider as educators move courses online District school administrators and educators are moving quickly to form plans to increase their use of online instruction as the potential for corona virus increases in the United States. While district and state administrators may wish to consult the Esri COVID-19 GIS Hub, below we offer suggestions for resources from Esri that can easily be included in your online or face-to-face courses – this spring or next fall. 1. Pre-built online learning plan: Get to Know GIS for Secondary Students (6.25 hours) Learn the basics of GIS. Work with ArcGIS Online to interact with GIS maps, explore real world problems, and tell a story. Find out how workers use GIS and what it takes to become a GIS professional. Explore >> 2. Semi-built online activities: GeoInquiries (20-30 minutes each) Use the Esri GeoInquiry student worksheets to structure online learning of standards-based content with web-based GIS, in short, easily usable learning chunks.  Learn more >> 3. Pre-built online short course: ArcGIS Online Basics (2 hours): ArcGIS Online is a cloud-based geographic information system used to map data, share content, and collaborate. This course will give you a foundation for working with ArcGIS Online. You will learn what ArcGIS Online is and the benefits that you and your organization can gain by using it.  Explore >> Note: Free ArcGIS Online account required 4. Semi-built online activities: Teach with GIS (variable times) Explore this collection of nearly 200 learning activities that use ArcGIS Online. Some activities require an ArcGIS Online login.  Discover more >> 5. Wide-open: GeoProjects Build a class data collection project to which students can submit data – allowing students to explore a range of research questions from the safety of their own home. This resource also includes links to short courses on several field data collection apps from Esri.  Explore the hub >> ... View more

Using GeoInquiries in a virtual course or self-directed learning space   Esri GeoInquiries are designed to be simple, frictionless instructional activities and maps for teachers to deliver verbally - to whole classes of students.  Most teachers don’t teach with GeoInquiries this way, at least not after their first or second use.   If you need additional background on GeoInquiries, explore this storymap and then visit the collections of GeoInquiries.   What many don’t know is that GeoInquiries are now available in two forms: the educator PDF with answers and the student worksheets in Google Docs.  The student worksheets don’t contain answers, but they do contain the map link and instructions.  The student worksheets can be ideal for homework or for plugging into an online or virtual course.  For those that want to spend the time, the worksheets could even be put into a Google Form – sending student answers directly to the teacher.   If your school or district is one of the many making plans to rapidly move to online instruction as a result of an expected corona virus (COVID-19) impact, these resources can be very useful compliments to your other instructional resources.       ... View more

Note: the title and focus of this webinar has shifted to better support the shifting education landscape due to COVID-19.  Click the "Register" link below to learn more about the webinar. Join the Esri K12 Education Team as they discuss creating student research projects with Survey123, ArcGIS Online, and Story Maps. Hear from educators and gather new ideas for springtime outdoor work with students and GIS tools. Register >> ... View more

This graphic is intended to help new educators sort out the GIS tool most applicable for a given part of the typical student research cycle.  These tool recommendations are not absolute; in the hands of an experienced student or educator, there can be a great deal of fluidity.  This chart may be considered a starting point. ... View more

As of October 1, 2019, the following software is available globally in the Esri School Mapping Software bundle. It is free for classroom and club instruction of youth. ArcGIS Online (Organization Subscription) Living Atlas data ArcGIS Story Maps Survey 123 Collector Quick Capture (software info) Operations Dashboard WebApp Builder and Configurable Apps ArcGIS for Desktop (with several extensions) ArcGIS Pro (with several extensions) Community Analyst Insights for ArcGIS (software info) City Engine (software info) ArcGIS Online is the primary software used in 95% of school settings. U.S. schools and youth clubs may sign-up with this form to request the software. Non-U.S. schools need to check with the local Esri distributor, see https://www.esri.com/en-us/contact.  For more information on licensing, see this blog. ... View more

Educators interested in complimentary evaluation book copies from Esri Press, may now request ebooks. Esri works with VitalSource, a powerful digital textbook delivery platform that enables qualified educators to examine books with ease. · If you do not have an account with VitalSource, you can get a free account here:https://www.vitalsource.com/sign_up  (Because the platform collects name and email address, this is not meant for minors such as K12 students.) · After establishing an account, college instructors can get access to books directly through VitalSource. K12 instructors just need to send an email to [email protected] and request a code for a specific Esri Press title (or titles), then "redeem" the code within your VitalSource account … simple! You can access your VitalSource Bookshelf library via multiple devices, including mobile devices, and your progress and notes sync. It's awesome! · To view titles and descriptions, you can do it on VitalSource (which will expose books from publishers other than Esri Press, but Esri can provide codes only to Esri Press titles) or check on the Esri website, http://www.esri.com/books (which shows just Esri Press titles). ... View more

Talking and working with teachers around the country, I commonly hear ideas and suggestions.  Today, I've explored building a proof-of-concept out of a few of those ideas. Schools are heavily using Google Docs (and Google Forms), the hands-down standard in K-12 education.   Many teachers have asked about making GeoInquiry questions digital (form-based). Still others have recommended putting the questions and map on the same webpage. One way to achieve this is to place the questions in a Google Form and share it publicly - embedding it, along with the GeoInquiry map into a storymap. The results aren't too bad and the data collected by the form would ideally flow into a spreadsheet on the teacher's Google Drive. Of course, Survey123 could replace the Google Form and perhaps another story map template (gen 1) would work better in this case. Related links: Explore other assessment prototypes in my gallery. Or see the new GeoInquiry storymap! ... View more

Check out the new "GIS in CTE" Learn path!  This new path is intended to help educators and students in general GIS CTE classes get an understanding of the broad, technical landscape of GIS.  If you have feedback about what is or is not in the path, send an email to [email protected]   Link: https://learn.arcgis.com/en/paths/cte/ ... View more