FARMINGTON – Sixteen teachers took part in a 3-day workshop at the University of Maine at Farmington this week, training with a new mapping tool being provided to Maine schools.
The Arc GIS Online technology is being provided to each school in the United States by ESRI, a software company that specializes in geographic information systems. The program allows for the plotting geographic points, which can then be affixed with layers of “attribute data.” For example, the location of a building could be plotted on a map, then attached to other attributes, such as the building’s size or purpose.
According to Professor Cathleen McAnneny, of UMF’s geography department, the technology allows for a host of possible student learning projects.
The train students in the use of the program, teachers need to understand it themselves. With that in mind, a grant provided by ESRI and the National Geographic Foundation enabled a workshop for 16 teachers, grades 6 through 12, from across the state. They spent the past 3 days in the Roberts Learning Center on the UMF campus, learning about the software’s capabilities.
“They were great,” McAnneny said of the teachers. “A wonderful group of teachers that were excited and worked hard to learn about the program.”
The teachers will be able to help direct student learning projects using Arc GIS Online, McAnneny said. They will then be able to present their work at a professional development conference.
In addition to providing the means for student projects, McAnneny said, GIS-related fields were along the fastest growing in the country. Educators hope that training students to use the technology early on would open up new employment opportunities later in life.
