4 Online Opportunit​ies to Learn About Spatial Thinking - Web Mapping

Aloha All:

There are several upcoming online, fun, engaging, challenging, and relevant opportunities to learn more about web-based mapping, including ArcGIS Online and other tools, and how to teach and learn about spatial thinking and geotechnologies.  We will have plenty geography, business-related, earth and environmental science content in here – plate tectonics, ecoregions, watersheds, business site location, population change, land use, coastal erosion, climate, and more.  While not necessarily for those of you with years of experience in GIS and GIScience, perhaps telling your colleagues who you have been wanting to dip a toe into the geospatial waters about these opportunities would be a great first step for them.

(1)  Isn’t That Spatial:  Introduction to Spatial Thinking: http://www.enetcolorado.org

 Join us for a 5 week immersion in the foundations of thinking spatially and applying the foundations to real-world issues and problem based learning through skill building in web mapping technologies.   Issues addressed include landscape and population change, natural hazards, climate, mapping your own field data, and more.  The course includes active discussions, hands-on activities, networking, self-assessments, and the development of your plan to implement these foundations and skills.  I am teaching this course and it runs 20 March – 30 April.

 (2)  Investigations in Spatial Thinking: http://www.enetcolorado.org

 Dig deeper with investigations in spatial thinking.  This 5 week course builds on the first spatial thinking course and makes use of today’s easy-to-use but powerful web mapping technologies.  You will build a project including your own web map for use in teaching and learning, as well as investigate topics in human settlement, ecoregions, and others from local to global scale.  I am teaching this course and it runs 20 March – 30 April 2013.

 (3)  Online Course:  Maps and the Geospatial Revolution!: https://www.coursera.org/course/maps

Learn how advances in geospatial technology and analytical methods have changed how we do everything, and discover how to make maps and analyze geographic patterns using the latest tools.   This is a MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) through Penn State University, instructor is Dr Anthony Robinson.   It is 5 weeks long and begins on 17 July 2013.

(4)  As a reminder, a 3-hour online  course that was developed by our colleague here at Esri that is freely available online at ANY TIME is entitled “Teaching with GIS: Introduction to using GIS in the classroom” and is available through the Esri campus: http://esriurl.com/vcteachingwithgis

 These opportunities are listed, along with other events, on the GIS education community calendar on the right side of http://edcommunity.esri.com

 Original post by Joseph Kerski, Education Manager for Esri