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Engage Students with Esri Canada's New GIS Education Resource

Esri Canada's Education and Research group is dedicated to providing a diverse number of resources for all levels of GIS users. Our newest resource, activities, can be a story map used to explore a specific topic. These ready-to-use resources are great for educators who want something that's easy-to-use with no set-up time. Find out more about these resources and have a look at our first two activities, which are focused on Canada's contributions during World War I.

Over the past few years, teachers we’ve met at workshops and conferences have asked us to create resources that are easy to pick-up and require no set-up time. We have answered their call. To diversify our pool of resources, Esri Canada's Education and Research group has created a new type of resource called an “activity.” 

An activity can include a story map or another type of Web application with a focus on a specific topic that features curriculum outcomes outlined in the description. Activities require a student to explore the map and answer questions based on learning outcomes found in K-12 curricula across Canada. An activity can be used by GIS users of all levels and it’s a great way to showcase the possibilities of ArcGIS Online, encouraging teachers to create their own story maps to highlight a topic of their choice. Topics explored can be at a local, regional, national or global level.

Our first two activities were created with the World War I centenary in mind, focusing on the social studies and history curricula. They include:

Find out how to create your own story map activities by exploring the following resources:

To find more educational resources, visit esri.ca/lessonplanner.

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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