Abstract
South Dakota EdPARC: Seventeen Years of K-16 Geospatial Education
Track: Teacher Education and Educational Research
Authors: Mary O'Neill
As part of the Education Public Access Resource Center (EdPARC), a division of the Upper-Midwest Aerospace Consortium, educators in Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, and Wyoming have been part of a regional effort to improve geospatial thinking and reasoning in the public schools for 17 years. Numerous teacher workshops, short-courses, summer institutes and other activities have been delivered to help teachers understand how GIS and remote sensing tools and data can be used to support and enhance learning in science, mathematics, social studies and art. During this time South Dakota EdPARC hosted annual 'Geospatial Technology for Educators' workshops in which more than 300 K-16 educators and several university students learned how to use GIS, GPS and remote sensing to enhance classroom instruction. An e-mail distribution list is used to maintain contact with the workshop participants and keep them informed about technology changes and opportunities for them and their students.