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Back to school resources and inspiration for K-12 Education

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Author Angela Alexander

Looking to integrate GIS into your teaching this fall? Find out how you can get started or continue your GIS journey with our back to school resources and inspirational stories of teachers and GIS Ambassadors supporting the use of GIS in Canada.

It’s that time of year when teachers and students are heading back to school, whether it’s in person or virtually. We have put together a list of resources to support educators who are planning to integrate GIS into their teaching. We have also included inspirational stories and work teachers and GIS Ambassadors have done with GIS.

Let's get started with ArcGIS Online
In this self-guided resource, you will get started with ArcGIS Online tutorials created by the Esri Canada K-12 group. To support virtual learning, we are including more videos to go along with our tutorials.

Try these introductory tutorials to begin your GIS journey.

Empower students to explore their world (recorded webinar from August 20, 2020)

  • Learn how to access ArcGIS Online and the support available to educators
  • Discover curriculum-specific resources
  • Understand how students can use GIS in various curriculum areas
  • Explore the story map that accompanies the webinar and includes links to resources.

Inspirational Teachers

Get inspired by exploring these select videos showing examples of projects done by elementary and high school students in Canada. They are great examples of what is possible with ArcGIS.

Elementary School
Tony Cushman did a field work project with his grade 3 class to investigate recess using ArcGIS.

Alison Katzko’s grade 5 students did a year long study of our local wetlands through using ArcGIS.

High School
Jonathan Fletcher, a teacher from Port Colborne High School shares the work his students have done using ArcGIS.

Need to connect with us? The K-12 Education group is available to answer your technical support and resource questions at k12@esri.ca.

GIS Ambassador support

GIS Ambassadors are professionals in your community that can support you in using GIS. Request to be connected with a GIS Ambassador today.

Check out what GIS Ambassadors have been doing across Canada to help teachers and students enhance their spatial learning.

Every month, we highlight the outstanding work of a GIS Ambassador in Canada.

Happy Back to School! Stay Mappy! 

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.

About the Author

Angela Alexander is a K-12 Education Specialist in the Esri Canada Education and Research group. She has over 15 years of experience working with educators across Canada. Angela focuses on producing geographic information system (GIS) and curriculum-specific resources, and conducting and creating custom workshops for educators. She manages the GIS Ambassador Program and is the Technical Chair for the annual Skills Ontario GIS competition. Angela also writes monthly posts for the Esri Canada Education and Research blog, highlighting K-12 educators and partners, new ArcGIS resources and GIS-related events.

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