GIS Education Weekly: Top Geography and GIS Education Trends of 2016

In this post I want to revisit the top news stories, events and themes in geography and GIS Education in 2016. They are in no particular order. I last compiled such a list in 2012. Happy Holidays!

Esri Forges Ahead 

What do I mean by forging ahead?

• The ConnectEd initiative in the U.S. was renewed for another three years.
• Similar efforts are starting in other geographies.
• There are now dozens of GeoInquiries that act as "starter kits" for educators and mentors new to GIS or new to teaching GIS.
• The MOOC program now includes four courses and a new title expected in 2017.
• Higher education licensing is being updated and simplified.
• And, on a personal note, as a recent addition to the Esri Education Team, I get to work with some incredibly dedicated colleagues to bring GIS education to as many people as possible.

CARTO, Mapbox and Boundless Education Efforts

CARTO offers some use cases and has special pricing for education and research. Boundless, just this month updated its education offering. The company (sometimes confused with an education company Boundless, that offers online textbooks) also sponsored 50 AP Human Geography teachers to attend the Geography 2050 event. Mapbox has accounts for students and other resources. That's awesome; I feel strongly that students should touch as many different software packages as possible during their formal and informal studies.

GIS Education Weekly: Is Pokemon GO Educational?

Is Pokemon GO Educational?

Pokemon GO debuted this past week in the U.S. New Zealand and Australia. The goal, using the augmented reality app on the phone, is to visit locations and catch the pocket monsters from the 1980s card game. The game is from Niantic, a Google spinoff, which debuted Ingress, back in 2012. Data collected by those who played Ingress power Pokemon GO.

Gavin Shrock, editor of xyHt suggests the game may be a significant geospatial education opportunity. "Something like the shared experience of this kind of activity would make a great ice-breaker and provide a common frame of reference from which to explain how asset mapping and hunting for survey markers works – many of the same elements are there in this little app."