Gis2gps

Description

The GIS2GPS Team, a group of educators, has been involved in Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) training across the Midwest for the past seven years. The team developed the first ESRI Authorized K-12 Training Program in Illinois. Over the past several years, the team has been involved in designing, training and technical support for schools across the State of Illinois. This project was part of Technology Literacy Challenge Grant, which was designed to stimulate the use of GIS and GPS technologies with Illinois K-12 students. The team also conducted introductory workshops on GIS and GPS to educators to develop a working knowledge of GIS and GPS, experience Internet interactive GIS applications as well as an introduction to ESRI GIS software. Teachers, working in the field, saw how various resource agencies and industries use GIS and GPS in their daily work. The team has worked with the Illinois Rivers Project at Edwardsville, Illinois and the TOPS Institute of Southern Illinois University. The TOPS Institutes was specially funded to provide technological applications for environmental monitoring. These special grants provide technology training for Illinois teachers and funded under a grant by the ISBE. Over the past summers, the team has been involved with the Area III Learning Technology Center of Illinois which extends over fourteen counties. The team has taught four-day courses for grades 5-12 math and science teachers in GIS and GPS technologies and their applications in the classroom. The courses provided teachers with information about GIS and GPS, why it is important in education, and ways of implementing this technology into the school curriculum. The GIS2GPS Team has spearheaded GIS and GPS technologies in Illinois schools, which allows students to explore the possibilities of the technology available that can be incorporated into community planning, workforce development, demographic analysis, marketing, and many other career fields. The GIS2GPS Team has been conducting workshops and running various activities engaging teachers in geospatial technologies for several years. They have been instrumental in getting a number of schools up and running with GIS and GPS. Many participants having entered these learning opportunities with only hearing the acronyms GIS and GPS, and have left with a plethora of meaningful ways to begin to implement and integrate these tools within their curriculum. The team has been instrumental in bringing GIS and GPS to schools in rural and urban communities. In addition, the team has developed an Internet Web site, www.gis2gps.com, which provides meaningful resources, including lessons, connections to K-12 Illinois Learning Standards, and supporting information that is needed to support the growth of these important technological advances for students and educators. The Illinois GIS Professional Association of Illinois (ILGISA) which is made up of GIS professionals from across the state honored the team with their Service Award for their efforts in bringing GIS to the K-12 schools in Illinois. The award was presented at the Fall Conference in 2002.

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