Benefits For Teachers:
- Learn an engaging strategy for teaching science and social studies with ArcGIS Online
- Gain knowledge and geospatial technology/GIS skills.
- Design map- and data-driven, standards-based lessons.
- Earn continuing education units certificates of completion for career advancement
- Flexible, online, differentiated professional learning
Benefits For Students:
- Become critical thinkers and problem solvers
- Learn essential concepts in science and social studies by examining real, messy, complex problems
- Increase interest in STEM and STEM careers
- Develop marketable GIS technology skills
Why do you want to do this?
POD Teacher Courses help teachers:
- Enhance existing lessons and student learning through Geospatial Inquiry.
- Engage students in 21st century skills (critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity)
- Promote student awareness of careers in geospatial technologies.
- Develop and practice ArcGIS Online.
- Refine pedagogical skills.
- Build a network of professional resources.
Why Geospatial Inquiry in the Classroom?
According to some estimates, up to 80% of the world’s data has a geospatial component to it. Demographics, watersheds, precipitation, temperature, real estate values, transportation routes—these are all examples of geospatial data. Critical issues facing our world including the environment, economy and security, depend on an understanding of geospatial relationships. Therefore, it is important for students build their capacity to reason with geospatial data.
Geospatial Inquiry engages students in geospatial thinking, which requires exploration of relationships and patterns in data. Because Geospatial Inquiry employs powerful geospatial technology tools, students are able to critically analyze authentic datasets in ways they would not be able to otherwise. When incorporated to support existing learning activities like research, field work, and laboratory investigations, Geospatial Inquiry can enhance student learning of disciplinary core ideas. The geospatial perspective can contextualize concepts in many subject areas to make them more relevant for students
Teachers who attend POD Teacher Courses enhance existing lessons through Geospatial Inquiry. Their students gain:
- Opportunities to engage in collaborative Geospatial Inquiry for a purpose: to answer a question, solve a problem, or explain phenomena.
- Exposure to exciting geospatial technology careers
- Employable skills:
- Critical thinking and data analysis
- Communicating with data
- Arguing from evidence and justifying claims
- Collaborating
- Presenting and responding to feedback
- Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology