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A good book to help teachers
get started
using GIS Software
ESRI.com who makes ArcView software, the major GIS software package
you will encounter, has teamed with experienced educators to produce a
wonderful resource that came out in Spring, 2002. The book is called,
"Mapping
Our World: GIS lessons for educators." Lyn Malone, Anita M. Palmer, and
Christine L. Voigt are the authors of this book. The book comes with a
site
license for a school for one year and all the lessons, resources,
how-to's,
student hand-outs, etc. In other words, it is a complete package. Word
has
it that another book, extending this further, will be out in a few
months.
Back in April of 2002, we were fortunate to have Anita Palmer, one of
the authors, out to our university to train faculty, students, and
teachers on GIS software. She did a terrific job of explaining
everything and is obviously an enthusiastic user of GIS. If you get the
chance to have Anita out to your school or district, take advantage of
it. She's an experienced classroom teacher who brings a wealth of
skill, knowledge, and "teacher-experience" to the training. To reach
Anita, use this link: Anita Palmer
In terms of ESRI.com, I've found the people I've encountered there have
been equally dedicated and concerned about students having access to
the tools necessary that will help them understand key concepts.
Charlie Fitzpatrick has always been most helpful and you can find him
at ESRI as the Educational contact.
To take a look at the details on the Mapping Our World book, go to the
ESRI site and check it out:
Go to: http://www.esri.com/mappingourworld
For ideas on how you might use the full-power of GIS in your classroom,
take a look at the write-up on GIS
in Schools.
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