In June of 2017, the second POD Facilitation Academy was held in Flagstaff, AZ. We are pleased to report that this outstanding group of Facilitators helped make the Academy a great success. Their combined experience teaching, leading professional development and utilizing GIS to enhance instruction made for enthusiastic collaboration.

We engaged in an example Geospatial Inquiry around natural hazards and risk, explored pedagogical moves that can support Geospatial Inquiry, considered unique implications for implementation of Geospatial Inquiry in secondary classrooms, and explored ways to enhance a myriad of lessons in multiple subject areas using Geospatial Inquiry. Finally, we discussed professional development facilitation strategies. Evenings were filled with field trips to Lowell Observatory, the US Geological Survey Astrogeology Field Center, and of course, the Grand Canyon.

Facilitators are offering POD Teacher Workshops across the country. To find a POD Teacher Workshop near you, join our mailing list. 

Since this is a design-based research project with the goal of seeing how the POD professional development model transfers to new contexts, we will engage in multiple improvement cycles. We have revised and continue to improve the POD Teacher Workshops based on Facilitator feedback. We look forward to collecting and analyzing data on the Teacher Workshops, implementation of lessons in secondary classrooms, and the impact of the project on student attitudes toward STEM and geospatial technology careers through 2019. Please visit often for research updates.

Please email podstemnau@gmail.com with any questions!

Check out the article written by Megan Walker and Lori Rubino-Hare at  http://www.directionsmag.com/entry/pod-program-fuels-student-enthusiasm-for-stem-and-gis/486789

We are excited to announce we are accepting applications for 2017 POD Facilitation Academy which will occur June 19-23, 2017 in Flagstaff. Applications and recommendation forms are due February 15, 2017. Teams of facilitators are especially encouraged to apply. Find out about the benefits and requirements here.

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff

In conjunction with the GEOCACHE project We’re planning the first ever Arizona GIS in Education User Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona May 5-6, 2017. We hope to celebrate success and identify challenges and problems of practice so we can move forward with getting GIS into schools and higher education courses.

More details to come, but save the dates!

Lori

In July of 2016, we held our first POD Facilitation Academy in Flagstaff, Arizona. We are pleased to report that this outstanding group of Facilitators helped make the Academy a great success. Their combined experience teaching, leading professional development and utilizing GIS made for enthusiastic collaboration.

We engaged in an example Geospatial Inquiry around natural hazards and risk, explored pedagogical moves that can support Geospatial Inquiry, considered benefits and challenges to implementation of Geospatial Inquiry in secondary classrooms, supports for teachers to overcome barriers. Finally, we explored ways to enhance a myriad of lessons in multiple subject areas using Geospatial Inquiry. POD Facilitators are currently planning their first POD Teacher Workshops across the country. To find a POD Teacher Workshop near you, join our mailing list. 

Since this is a design based research project with the goal of seeing how the POD professional development model transfers to new contexts, we will engage in multiple improvement cycles. We are currently revising our POD Guides and Academy based on Facilitator feedback and developing and validating the research instruments.

We will soon be recruiting 15 exceptional professional development coordinators, science/STEM curriculum coordinators, college faculty, and any individuals who support teachers on a regular basis to apply to attend our new and improved POD Facilitation Academy to learn to replicate POD Teacher Workshops across the nation.  It will be held in Flagstaff, Arizona, June 19-23, 2017. Sign up to be notified when the application goes live.

Please email podstemnau@gmail.com with any questions!

We’re excited about our contribution to the special Geospatial Technologies in Teacher Education issue of the Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE) Journal. We followed teachers one to two years beyond POD Teacher workshops to see what teaching practices and tools they continued to use (or not) and why after the formal PD support ended.