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Lake County in Indiana has launched its GIS website after 8 years of collecting the data. The URL, www.lakecountysurveyor.org, highlights it’s under the auspices of the County Surveyor. He actually announced it.
Of note: “Topographical maps are available through the system, though the office charges private surveying companies for the data to recoup some of the cost.”
I saw the of the interface of the pen-based solution at the ESRI UC. (APB post) @wacomgeo is looking for testers.
The AP Geography class at Stillwater Junior High, MN, is using GIS, which the local paper describes this way: “GIS is simply technology that merges data with maps. Something as basic as Google Maps can be considered GIS because it links a map to data, in that case street addresses.” Teacher Sara Damon seems to get geography: “That’s really what geography is all about: Where is it? Why is it there? What difference does it make?” I like the idea of AP geography in ninth grade; when I was in school the only AP course for niners was AP Bio.
Dr. Becky Starnes, associate professor of public management at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN, made a presentation, titled “Incorporating GIS Technology into Public Administration Education,” at the 2009 Southeast Conference on Public Administration held Oct. 3. I continue to believe the future of GIS education is not teaching more students GIS per se, but integrating it into whatever specialized (like Public Administration) or general (liberal arts) curriculum they choose.
Youth organization Rede Jovem has chosen five young women to map the favelas of Rio and upload the information to Wikimapia. Each mapper receives a monthly stipend and GPS-enabled phone. They will compete to see who can obtain the most information over the next six months. The winner will receive a grant to study journalism.
- AFP
