Slate: In the Age of Trump, We Need to Protect Map Databases - "Access to information is under threat like never before" says Faine Greenwood.
Mother Nature Blog: 7 reasons to use Pokémon GO in classrooms - The game has not been on my radar for some time. Any readers seeing it in the wild or in the classroom?
Business Insider Video: These Brits tried to label a map of Europe and failed miserably - Because of course, geography is about labeling countries on a paper map. Quite funny video, actually.
New York Times: If Americans Can Find North Korea on a Map, They’re More Likely to Prefer Diplomacy - Another argument for geography education! h/t @cartonerd
Wired: The Traditional Lecture is Dead. I Would Know - I'm a Professor - Rhett Allain, a physics professor at Southern Louisiana University, suggests active learning is better than straight lectures. I hope this is not a new idea to anyone reading this newsletter.
Wired: The Traditional Lecture is Dead. I Would Know - I'm a Professor - Rhett Allain, a physics professor at Southern Louisiana University, suggests active learning is better than straight lectures. I hope this is not a new idea to anyone reading this newsletter.
Geospatial Brainstorming Blog: Do I need to know how to code to be a GIS professional? – Michael Miller makes the argument mostly "for" programming.
AAG: Civil Rights Featured Theme of 2017 Geography Awareness Week - It's time to start thinking about GeoWeek and GIS Day. This year the week is November 12-18, with GIS Day on Nov 14. This is the 30th birthday of GeoWeek. I celebrated the first one in 1987 as a grad student at Penn State.
Esri-UK formally announced free software for schools at its user conference this week. That prompted this reply in this Twitter thread: "In other news, @qgis is also making itself free to all schools worldwide."
ArcNews: The University of Maryland's Web Mapping Platform Grows Alongside Its Users - CAD data was the foundation of the now mobile and desktop interactive map.
ArcNews: The University of Maryland's Web Mapping Platform Grows Alongside Its Users - CAD data was the foundation of the now mobile and desktop interactive map.
Who's Teaching with What?
What's it like teaching with Mapbox? Anthony Robinson offers some thoughts in 140 character portions.
Anita Graser reports from Agile 2017 that "multiple universities use QGIS Map Design [book from Locate Press] in their courses."
Anita Graser reports from Agile 2017 that "multiple universities use QGIS Map Design [book from Locate Press] in their courses."
Voting is Open
You can now vote for the People's Choice map in the GISCI 2017 map contest.
You can also vote for the People's Choice of STEM/C videos by recipients of NSF and other federal grants. I found three "geo" projects to consider:
- Cognitive and Neural Benefits of Teaching Spatial Thinking in the High School Science Classroom
- Spatial STEM+C: Developing Computational Thinking and Mathematical Skills in Children with Spatial Puzzles, Games, and Building Toys
- Mobile City Science: Counter-mapping the Neighborhood
Your Major <> Your Career
George Anders, writing at Forbes, has the data to back up that headline.
If you've ever wondered how much a particular college major -- such as nursing, computer science or art history -- defines your destiny, check out this new interactive data tool from the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project. The key message: every major, including the technical cluster, brings more career flexibility than we realize.You will want to check out how geography, as a major, fares! That is, what jobs do those with geography degrees get? I found how men and women differ in the most popular positions most interesting.
Graduate Corner
Northeastern University: Fran Hutton Lee will receive an MPS from the College of Professional Studies. She developed a book mapping application for her capstone project and will continue to manage GIS in Medway, MA after graduation.
Penn State: Army Capt. Andy Duhon graduated May 7 with a master of professional studies in homeland security, with the geospatial intelligence option.