Tag Archives: Mobile
Fun with GIS 143: Mapping Field Data
Earth Day invokes reflection. Earth Day #1 was 1970. Cars, computers, climate, education, population … much is different, some better, some more troubling. We dance along some very slippery slopes. We need more respect for our little spaceship and its layer upon layer of complex, interconnected, and powerful but by no means indestructible systems. Only education can save our planet, and education requires engagement. We can all live more sustainably. But educators bear extra responsibility, to involve youth in more activities embracing our world. Not through fragmenting knowledge but through integration … activities that engage youth with the richness of the planet, the wealth of subjects and senses, and the passion of a holistic experience.
It is easy to do, even with only a little bit of field data. Think about an activity you do, or what your students would like to do. Gather some data, take some photos, record the experience, construct a table, drop it on a map, and bring forth a simple story.
A simple video shows the process, from designing a table to moving data onto a map to saving and sharing the story. You will see how utterly simple it can be, and how engaging. (See the video via YouTube or DropBox.)
Try it. Better yet, share the video with kids and let them do it. Let them do projects that entice them to think holistically. We need young people to care enough about Earth to explore, learn, and make critical decisions, thinking holistically, not just about one single measure. Start small and build.
Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 142: iPad GeoPower
Small but powerful, iPads have taken hold in many classrooms. With good connectivity, these tablets offer rich exploration, data gathering, analysis, and presentation, via ArcGIS Online. Lacking the horsepower, browser plugins, and multi-function mouse of a full computer, there are limits, but savvy users can still accomplish quite a lot.
The ArcGIS for iOS app opens existing projects containing modest data sets. With sustained wifi or cell connection, field data entry is a snap, including adding on-site photo/video and using GPS-based location. Swapping basemaps and turning layers on and off just requires accessing side panels. Shifting between multiple accounts is easy, as the app can store full connection info.
But I just use the iPad’s regular web browser, because it permits full access to authoring (including saving and sharing), layer controls like transparency, and the rich and growing body of ArcGIS Online data and analysis power, just like my computer. It takes only a few seconds to get used to tapping to focus the tablet’s attention and then tapping again to engage a control.
Even maps with data loads that overtax the ArcGIS for iOS app (such as “GLOBEdemo” above) often work inside the iPad’s web browser. This means that, if you can do it on a computer in a regular browser, including playing a presentation (such as “TX Demographics” below), you can usually do it on an iPad.
Many schools today are looking for reasons to use the banks of iPads they have acquired, particularly in activities that engage students in analysis and presentation. ArcGIS Online provides unlimited opportunity for educators who are willing to unleash students in exploring, creating, and analyzing data.
Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Comparing the spatial accuracy of field data collected with smartphones and GPS receivers
Comparing smartphone and GPS tracks and waypoints.
Fun with GIS 137: We the People
Every four years, the USA undergoes a bit of revolution. Some years are bigger than others. For the first time, I got to see it live. For friends and family around the world, I joined over a half-million to bear witness.
Along the way, I used my smartphone’s ArcGIS app to gather data and photos. The data proved not sufficiently useful; that’s sometimes the way it goes with science. But the practice was valuable. And the photos tell a story.
After taking the oath of office, President Obama talked about what we the people can do, and must do. Education was front and center. Liberty and equality, prosperity and happiness, present and future, all rely on collective action. We need to build understanding of complex phenomena, strengthen our capacity to solve problems, and can only do so together.
I looked around at the sea of people … all sizes, ages, races, and stations. I looked at the little device in my hand. With it, I had gathered data, captured images, transmitted content, and shared the experience. I had prepared for this mission by integrating multiple devices, considering various layers, learning different applications, and deciding on a plan.
This is what we can help young people do. Citizen science is the product of we the people. It depends on we the people valuing the principles and skills of science, the interwoven stories of both natural and human worlds, the integrative perspective of geography, and the immense capacity of technology. We the people can share these with each other, young and old alike, and build a better world, if we do it together. We have serious challenges ahead, for which our only hope is education. We the people must commit to building and sharing knowledge together.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 136: Analysis Rocks!
“Please computer show me all features where…” I think this is the sweetest phrase in all of GIS. Why does GIS rock? Analysis! It’s technology’s marvelous ability to sift through a bunch of data, and show the answer to a compelling question. The user has to provide the data and craft a clear and meaningful question that the computer can answer. For an educator, this is magic! It is a wonderfully simple, clear, and potent demonstration of problem-solving. The guts of GIS is features and their attributes, but the brain of GIS is analysis.
The latest upgrade to ArcGIS Online now makes it easy to see and practice analysis, allowing educators to build problem-solving skills from even a young age. Any feature service can now display a table of attributes, where users can sort and select and see relationships even more clearly. And properly formatted data can be filtered with queries, sifting out features that meet specific criteria.
To demo, I downloaded some data about US states – four years of 8th grade math scores in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test. In Excel, I collected summary scores from 2011, 2009, 2007, and 2005, and calculated the difference between 2005 and 2011. (For such a demo, I could have used as few as three features and three attributes, but making it realistic adds power.) I used Esri Maps for Office to convert the spreadsheet into a map layer, and then shared that layer through my ArcGIS Online organization.
Back in a classroom, students on computers or iPads could practice analysis, using the map, table, and filter tools! This is a fabulous workflow for educators – build a simple data set, publish it to ArcGIS Online, let your students bang away on it! In addition to the classification and symbolization that is a hallmark of GIS, now students can explore that table and select features of special interest.
Students can then filter out according to carefully crafted criteria, with simple queries about a single thing to very complex and even parameterized queries! And users don’t even need to be signed in if the data is shared with the public! This is awesome!
Education policy leaders are yearning for analytical thinking. Employers seek workers who can analyze information. The new geography standards and next generation science standards both call for students to demonstrate analysis. The Common Core State Standards call for analysis. STEM fields require constant analysis. This is why I’m so excited about the powerful combination of ArcGIS Online as a critical thinking arena, especially when used in conjunction with Esri Maps for Office. Opportunities for students to build analytical power are endless!
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 134: iPad GIS
Once upon a time, computers were huge and slow. Now? I’m typing this and snagging screenshots on an iPad. These devices rock for reading and writing. But can they do GIS? It depends on what you want to do. Visualization? Analysis? Data creation? All doable. OK, an iPad running ArcGIS Online does not have the horsepower of a robust workstation running ArcGIS Desktop, but it’s easier to tote around and use anywhere there’s connectivity.
With the ArcGIS for iOS app, one can open any number of pre-created maps, and use them largely as the designer intended for a laptop and larger. Here’s a screenshot from a popular resource, “USA Demographics for Schools,” accessible without being signed in, simply by typing the title in the “search for map” box in the ArcGIS for iOS app. Open it up, zoom in to the region of interest, and explore the layers. (See other US maps at http://esriurl.com/funwithgis119.)
Since 2002, a favorite resource for educators working with GIS has been “Mapping Our World.” It was created for ArcView 3, then for ArcGIS 9, then for ArcGIS 10, and is now available for free, engaging ArcGIS Online. Here’s a screenshot of the most commonly used lesson, exploring earthquakes around the world, and the map it uses. I floated back and forth between the doc and the map easily on my iPad.
The earthquake map above uses native ArcGIS Online and the iPad’s native browser, which means users can have a more or less similar experience as on a computer, just with finger-work on a touch-screen instead of mouse-clicks on the desk. This can take a little getting used to, and some activities call for two-handed work even on a computer, but many of the basic activities are just as easy on an iPad. So you can do some basic classification of layers, tweak the symbols, play with the transparency, do an identify, and so forth. Here’s a map built from scratch on iPad, using the “election2012″ layer from “Map the Vote“, showing the added layer classified (electoral votes available in 2012) and symbolized, and a feature identified.
Another blog included a lesson using editable feature services with smartphones. As long as your iPad has connectivity in the field, it’s just another field data collection device, with the benefits of portability, screen size, GPS, and camera. This is why many organizations are turning to tablets in the field for on-site data collection and integration. Here, I’m adding a data point with my favorite breakfast beverage (OJ, of course).
As with any technology in the hands of any user, the key is what’s going on in the user’s head. It’s vastly more exciting seeing people do powerful work with basic tools than do basic work with powerful tools. Even such an elegant tool as the iPad has limits, but with ArcGIS Online, users who engage vigorously have access to galaxies of data and an array of capacities that would have made GIS users a decade ago gape. “Explore, analyze, solve, communicate” is as relevant to an iPad-based user of ArcGIS Online as a workstation-based user of desktop GIS.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 128: Crowdsource Your Fieldwork
One “magical” power of the new ArcGIS Online Organizations is the ability to publish editable feature services. This opens a world of collaboration in the construction of data.
A “feature service” is a data layer that can be used in many maps. This is in contrast to just pushing a zipped shapefile into a map, which is indeed cool but creates just a set of “notes,” usable only in that specific map or its “offspring.” A feature service is an independent layer, with its own metadata; it can be documented, commented on, searched for, and added independently to other maps and apps. Feature services can be classified and symbolized, queried, analyzed via geoprocessing tools, and downloaded by the owner for further work in ArcMap.
“Editable feature services” are feature services in which users can make modifications, such as adding new records or changing the values in a record’s attributes. For instance, I have posted a simple editable feature service allowing readers of this blog to add a record showing their location, age, gender, and favorite morning beverage. I could create a service for my classes (plus those of other educators) to use on a field trip, allowing collection of precisely defined data, for a project in science or social studies. At Esri’s T3G (“Teachers Teaching Teachers GIS”) Institute in 2012, participants did exactly this, collecting tree data and attaching photos to certain records. {See GRCF map}
The magic comes from generating this editable feature service in ArcMap, publishing it through ArcGIS Online into a map, and then letting students use GPS-enabled smartphones or tablets to record the data. They can quickly fill out a form, attach a photo, hit submit, refresh their map, and see their data plus items generated by classmates, on the fly while out in the field. This rapid feedback boosts interest in the activity at hand — they are looking at THEIR data gathered just a moment ago! It even facilitates data entry by eliminating replication, thereby reducing error.
What does it take to do this? ArcMap 10, an ArcGIS Online Organization account, a basic understanding of databases, and a question to explore. Is there an example to look at? See “NOTES” in ArcGIS Online, and notice that it includes a downloadable map package. The metadata talks of ArcGIS Server, but you can also use an ArcGIS Online Organization subscription.
Excellent! So, how can I do this? If NOTES does everything you want, you can download the linked map package and publish it into your own ArcGIS Online Organization. But chances are you want to create your own special project. To do this, you need to plan carefully your data collection process. A new ArcLesson walks you through creating and using an editable feature service. (Alternative download site for 11mb PDF here.) It’s easy to do. So now the question is “What kind of data collection project should you do?” Water quality? Local historic sites? Tree inventory? Community assets? It’s worth spending some time dreaming and scheming, perhaps over your favorite breakfast beverage.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 127: Map the Vote
Two simple questions comprise a stunning opportunity for social studies teachers across the US: “In the time remaining before the election, where should candidates allocate resources? Why?”
Consider: Which states have the most electoral votes? Which states have been “reliable backers” of a party? Which states have been “close calls” in the past, or flipped parties? Which states have stronger voter turnout, and in what way is that influential? Do any racial/ethnic groups or age bands have special concerns? How is the economy within the state? While every state is electing members to the US House, some states are also electing members to the US Senate, or Governors, and will that help or hurt a presidential candidate in a given state?
How a teacher addresses this is worth considering. I have posted two relevant items: one is a resource for use in ArcGIS Online: a layer of states with a ton of data; the other is a map (shown above on iPad) with the data preconfigured to highlight certain contents. It is like the difference between a stocked kitchen and a prepared buffet table; each offers choices, depending on what you seek.
But each still relies on the same concept, about which some educators and influencers of education policy must be reminded. Life is full of such ill-structured problems, and students need to practice the process that employers seek and adulthood demands: identifying the key question/s, locating relevant and reliable data, analyzing said data, interpreting and integrating the results, and identifying (if not undertaking) a recommended course of action. While the problem-solving process may be described in a linear fashion, the path undertaken may meander, loop, include some dead ends, accumulate a stunning volume of background knowledge, and conclude in a place not originally contemplated. Carefully scripting a path for learners to follow may generate a particular visual result, but may not yield anything close to similar knowledge. (See related blogs.)
Being able to recall the facts in the above table or follow successfully a precise script are vastly less helpful than being able to use them in creative and analytical ways to achieve a goal. To the degree that education emphasizes fact accumulation or prescribed results (precise, predictable, easy to test) versus process development (multi-faceted, divergent, challenging to assess) is the degree to which life’s real problems will continue to vex us all.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 125: Serving Map Content
A powerful new capacity is available in ArcGIS Online: hosting services. While users of ArcGIS Online have been able to push content up into individual maps, it has not been easy to get your content used beyond an individual map. With the arrival of ArcGIS Online for Organization subscriptions, this is very doable. Instead of many people needing to find your data and push it up into their own map, now you can publish content once, easily, for many people to use, by adding it directly inside ArcGIS Online.
You can publish basemaps (tile services), layers (feature services), and capacities (geoprocessing services). The easiest of these to understand is a feature service. Think of a lone shapefile in your map, and you want to let many people use it in their maps. A publisher in an organization can publish the content to their account and share it. Bang, done! Or, if you have several layers in an ArcMap 10.1 display, you can right click and choose to share. Zip, zap, zingo … up it goes! OK, yes, there are some steps to make sure it’s usable and findable, but it’s really easy!
Is it powerful? Try this: Open up our old reliable “USA Demographics for Schools” map – 10 layers of demographic data, all in scale dependent displays. Notice that, when you zoom in, you lose track of states and counties. Click the “Add” button and search in ArcGIS Online for “statecountyboundaries” (all one word). Click “add”, then click “Done adding layers”. Look over in the Contents … two new layers, which you can turn on and off, control their symbology, even click to identify. In 10 minutes, I created and published a layer that can now be used thousands of times, on desktops and iPads and smartphones. Think of the layers and maps you can share!
ArcGIS Online for Organizations offers capacities that will become more mind-blowing as you gain experience. You can share with your community editable services to support data collection, or host project content that you personally created, or even publish maps generated in Excel! To start, see these tutorials and videos. (The Organization account section is below the Personal account section.) Happy publishing!
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
Fun with GIS 119: Five Faves of USA
PD approaches! With the sun heading to the Tropic of Cancer, educators across USA are planning what to learn over the summer. For ye non-teachers, know that most educators will seek massive infusions to brain, heart, and soul in the few short weeks between graduation and the return to classes. Like humpback whales gorging on the summer herring, many teachers seek day-long, week-long, even month-long absorption in new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing. With that in mind, this week I offer my five favorite maps based on USA data using ArcGIS Online. They work on Mac or PC, tablet or smartphone. Each of these can be experienced by clicking on the map or using the short url.
1. USA Demographics for Schools
10 layers of scale-dependent demographic data at state, county, census tract, and block group, with pop-ups: http://esriurl.com/usademographics
2. USA Territorial Acquisitions.
A common but incomplete representation of US history. What should be added to make a more holistic view? http://esriurl.com/usaterritories
3. US48Weather.
It changes constantly, and affects us massively. The contents update every few minutes; the impact can last a lifetime: http://esriurl.com/us48weather
4. USA Waters for Schools.
Hierarchies of watersheds, which bind us together but pay not a whit of attention to political boundaries. How frightfully inconvenient! http://esriurl.com/usawaters
5. USA Ecological Subregions.
The integration of landform, climate, soil, and biogeography. Types diverge or merge hierarchically, and influence massively how people can live within them: http://esriurl.com/usaecoregions
Vast numbers of lessons await teachers of science, social studies, math, and the holistically-minded educator. Customize these maps, mix and match the data, seek out a project, focus on your area. Examine the patterns and relationships that describe and influence all our lives.
- Charlie Fitzpatrick, Esri Education Manager
