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| Star Rating of Some of Maryland's Schools |
The New York Times: The Business of Selling Your Location - This appeared several times in my e-mail box and in all of my social feeds this week.
GeoAwesomeness: How much can you earn in the Geospatial Industry? - The authors "took a deep dive into more than 3,500 salary postings by top geospatial companies and startups on Glassdoor, and came up with the answers for you." Question to ponder: Is this an authoritative answer?
The Verge: This map lets you hear what the world sounds like without humans - The Cities and Memories project has been underway since 2014; Sounding Nature, the map in question, is its latest work.
Twitter Thread: Universities aren't preparing GIS Professionals AT ALL - Lots of people chime in on expectations for graduates and other topics.
Big Think: Even these Terrible Maps can teach us something - See also: In Defense of Bad Maps - Axis Maps
Read the Plaque: An interactive map from 99% Invisible, one of my favorite podcasts. Roman Mars reminds us: Always read the plaque! The map's been around since 2015, but this is the first I've heard of it.
Streaming Observer: The Christmas Movie Your State is Most Obsessed with Mapped - Ignore the odd title of the article and perhaps ignore the map, as well. A question to ponder: How would you develop the data and why would you care about the map itself? The article states, "As it turns out, your go-to Christmas movie could be influenced by where you live." That's worth questioning, too!
Quartz: Explore life expectancy in the United States - The article includes a map and analysis and a request for you to explain the data in your area.
Esri: Geography Treasure Hunt Mountain Edition - A fun quiz for International Mountain Day! I generally do not like memorization quizzes, but I really enjoy these "look at the map, use the map, search the map" treasure hunts. Thanks to my colleagues in the Story Maps Labs!
Certification News
Geospatial World: India seeks to set up special committee for certification for surveying and GIS professionals - "The Ministry of Skill Development seeks to address this by setting up a special committee to look into certifications for surveyors and GIS professionals. “This will not only give us good, certified professionals but will also make the profession more alluring for the educated youth since they can aspire to be known as a semi-IT professional,” said Dr KP Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship while inviting the Association of Geospatial Industries (AGI) to be part of this committee."
Mapping News
Google: Notice: Google Fusion Tables Turndown - Google is providing a full year of notice that fusion tables are going away. I know many educators used Fusion Tables as a way to introduce data driven mapping.
On and Off Campus
gvSIG: course-contest Projects with students and gvSIG Batoví: by way of conclusion - There's a bit of a language barrier, but it seems students prepared projects with gvSIG.
Trajectory: A Promising Future for the GEOINT Profession - USGIF provides details on this year's scholarship winners.
Tom Meuller reports via Twitter that 23 California University of PA GEO 100 students passed the iMMAP Afghanistan Spatial Data Center Student Certification Exam. It's part of a training program developed by the university and Northeastern.
Geospatial World: With inputs from young secret agents, City of Oslo’s traffic mapping tool exceeds expectations - Students use app to report issues on the route to school.
Geospatial World: With inputs from young secret agents, City of Oslo’s traffic mapping tool exceeds expectations - Students use app to report issues on the route to school.
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Introducing an urban geography field guide for St. Paul - Prof. Dan Trudeau of Macalester College and members of his class exploring the political geography of urban public spaces introduce their Field Guide to St. Paul. That's authentic learning.
NatGeo: National Geographic Society Names Dr. Vicki Phillips Chief Education Officer - Previously, she was superintendent of the School District of Lancaster in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and of Portland Public Schools in Portland, Oregon. She served as Pennsylvania’s secretary of education and chief state school officer. She has many degrees in subjects other than geography and several honorary doctorates to keep the real degrees company.
Class Central: Coursera’s 2018: Year in Review - The review cover what's going on at Coursera. Highlights:
- students are not turned away by the paywall
- consumer, corporate training and online degrees areas are all contributing to $140M in revenue
- University of Illinois and University of Michigan are leading the way with online degrees
- there are now 310+ specializations with 90 new ones launched in 2018
Programs and Courses
The Weal: Drones, lasers, and the future of mapping: Verda Kocabas - The school paper at SAIT interviews Verda Kocabas, the Academic Chair for the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program. "We spoke on how GIS has a boring name, but is actually mind-blowing, where the field is going, and some novel applications of new technologies:"
Capitol Journal: SD universities add new mental health nurse practitioner, GIS and Accounting Programs "SDSU’s existing geographic information sciences minor will now be available online. The GIS certificate will be offered at University Center-Sioux Falls and through online delivery. These changes in delivery are in response to growing market demands from the geospatial technology industry for graduates who can utilize geographic applications and technologies in a changing world."