The Esri Education GIS Conference provides unique training and networking opportunities to help you and your educational institution get the most from GIS to improve student learning and manage operations effectively.
If you go, you also will hear from interesting speakers who will cover topics related to this year’s conference theme: Education’s Grand Challenges, GIS Opportunities, emphasizing the major issues that confront education today. These challenges include the impact of the Common Core standards and online learning, career readiness, and problem-based learning.
Christopher Swanson from Education Week magazine will discuss “Challenges and Opportunities in K–12 Education” during the conference’s first Plenary Session on July 12. Swanson directs the Research Center of Editorial Projects in Education for Education Week. His plenary address will focus on how education policy and standards affect achievement and graduation rates in schools in the United States.
Scott L. Thomas of Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in California and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Higher Education will present “The Future of Higher Education” at the second Plenary Session on July 13. Thomas, who is dean of CGU’s School of Educational Studies, will examine how rising costs, career readiness, and new technologies are challenging conventional thinking about the university’s role in today’s society.
Ludmilla Pavlova, senior facilities planner at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will speak at the third and final Plenary Session on July 15. Her presentation, “Sustaining Learning Places” will explore the role of GIS in facilities planning and campus management with an emphasis on creating processes and tools that support campus sustainability and climate action goals.
All the education conference Plenary Sessions will be held at the Marriott Marquis & Marina. However, on July 14, the program will move next door to the San Diego Convention Center for the Esri User Conference Plenary Session presentations and the Academic GIS Program Fair. At the fair, conference-goers will get the opportunity to meet with representatives from colleges and universities to discuss their academic GIS programs and educational offerings.
“In Plenary Sessions, user presentations, and self-organized sessions, this year’s Education GIS Conference will focus on the big issues confronting education,” says David DiBiase, Esri director of education. “Some of the best minds in the business will be there—including yours, we hope.”
Four More Great Reasons to Go to the Esri Education GIS Conference
If you work in GIS education, this is one conference you should not miss, because you can
- Choose from among more than 80 user presentations. Learn what educators see as the hot topics in GIS education, including teacher professional development, citizen science projects, and the need to foster collaboration across campus.
- Get free hands-on training. Esri offers instructor-led, hands-on training on topics including sharing maps using ArcGIS Online, spatial analysis techniques, Python scripting, and map design. In addition, the Hands-on Learning Lab provides self-paced training opportunities.
- Explore the GIS Solutions EXPO. The EXPO provides access for the education community to GIS-related education products and services from businesses, government agencies, universities, and other organizations.
- Take advantage of the UC Sampler. You automatically receive free admission to the first two days of the Esri User Conference when you register for the Esri Education GIS Conference.
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