“Adapt and innovate!” That phrase was repeated over and over as governors of many states gathered recently for the National Governors Association. I was privileged to attend NGA meeting, right on the heels of Esri’s Education User Conference (“EdUC”) and International User Conference (“UC”). The juxtaposition of events was fabulous! The governors heard that, to be competitive, states needed to get ready for different kinds of education, emphasizing problem solving, integration of information across subjects, collaboration, creativity, and analysis. Cool! I had just come from seven days of conference about exactly that, with people from around the world!
At the UC, new capacity was displayed inside ArcGIS Online that allows anyone to begin doing analytical maps with ease! Boiled down to its very essence, GIS is about generating data, analyzing it, and representing it. Now, all kinds of data can be brought in, classified, and symbolized, easily, with just a text editor and a web browser, on Windows or Macintosh!
Using just a text editor (but it could have been a spreadsheet), I created and stored a small table, using coordinates just like what would come from a GPS unit. ((Sidebar: For 19 years, I have said “To succeed with GIS, people MUST be able to navigate files and folders, and understand tables.” It’s still true.)) The table has four records (plus a dummy test record) and six fields, but could have many more, or even far fewer. Here it is in a spreadsheet:
The recent changes mean it’s a simple process to go to ArcGIS.com, click “Make a Map“, click “Add/ Add Layer from File”, browse to and choose the file, and click “Import.” The map instantly has new points in it. Clicking any of the points opens a little pop-up window with the information displayed above.
Wanting to classify symbols, I hovered the mouse over the layer name “points”, clicked the context menu triangle, and chose “Change Symbols.” Cool! I can classify by various means, right in my web browser! I chose “Size”, and then used the field “elev”.
With a tiny bit of customization, I had a map showing my four points with a graduated symbol based on elevation. And, I can click the “More info” links and launch explorations related to the point of interest, thanks to work in my original table.
With these basic concepts, skills, and tools, I could begin a career in GIS, gathering data, classifying and symbolizing it, integrating different elements of the everyday world. This is the magic of GIS: there is SO MUCH DATA out there, and visual patterns are SO powerful, people need to know how to integrate it, analyze it, correlate it, adapting to new opportunities, and create new visions and invent new solutions.
By doing these tasks today, students can accomplish what the governors heard is vital for today, not just tomorrow: ADAPT AND INNOVATE. The tools will evolve again, growing ever stronger. Students and educators need to get started NOW, pushing the limits with these simple tools in order to get ready for more, or be willing to endure a life of obsolescence.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Co-Manager, Esri Schools Program
