GIS Systems Article Review

"Esri Launches Story Map Journal App Contest For Students"

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) when it comes to plotting or tracking anything that involves disparate locations is nothing new. However, the depth and breadth that newer GIS projects are taking in comparison to older ones just shows how far the field has come and how far it could truly go. In keeping with the renewed and revised commitment to strengthen the STEM subjects, those being science, technology, engineering and mathematics, is rendering in all relevant fields and at level of education. As one might imagine, this easily and obviously includes the field of GIS. This article review looks at a summary of a program where students were asked to submit a Story Map Journal for a contest. How the field of GIS was used in this situation and how learning and school was an integral part of the same will be the main subject of this report. While GIS is not an obvious tool for many situations, its uses can lead to great discoveries and insight.

Analysis

As noted in the introduction, GIS in the case of the article under review for this brief report occurred in a blend of the school and professional environments. The content was opened on a global basis and it has a deadline of November 11th of this year. The main way in which there is a blend of education and the private sector is the actions of the creator of the contest, an organization called Ersi, in that they opened up their information and databases to the people entering the contest. The data that the company has relating to geographic analyses, visualizations, predictive models and so forth are voluminous. The precise categories of study that are in play include the study of the land, the study of the ocean, the study of populations and beyond. The students in question are of high school age and they are enrolled in AP/college preparation courses in the fields of mathematics and science as well as students that are enrolled in college courses relating to STEM fields in general and/or GIS in particular. There are a number of prices to be had and they range from cash prizes or suites of Ersi software that range in value from two thousand dollars all the way up to five times that. Beyond that, the winners will be featured at ERsi's Federal GIS and Education GIS conferences as well as the ERsi Young Professional Network events (GSS, 2016).

Dawn Wright, the Chief Scientist for Ersi, has been the mouthpiece of the contest. She notes that "Ersi views science as helping us to understand not only how the earth works but also how the earth should look" (GSS, 2016). She went on to say that "science is the study of how we should look at the earth. GIS places scientific data in a visual context" (GSS, 2016). In other words, she is saying that perspective and the point of analysis is everything when it comes to the field of GIS. Knowing where data points are in terms of geographical location based on coordinates or a list is one thing. However, being able to show and analyze the data in a two- or three-dimensional way is quite another thing as it can be easier to see patterns and nexuses of information. Beyond that, computers can be used to aid and supplement the process. Indeed, the Ersi program as described in the article is clearly designed to show students what is possible and help them learn to innovate and grow in their own right.

Conclusion

While a monumental amount of progress and vision has been accomplished when it comes to GIS technology and efforts thus far, it has become clear that technological advancements and forward movements in the environmental sciences has all occurred at a frenetic pace and there is seemingly no sign of there being any plateauing or slowing down of this progress. The Ersi spokesperson makes reference to the fact that GIS helps people know what is currently present and what should be. Surely, that perspective will evolve in the future.

Work Cited

GSS. "Esri Launches Story Map Journal App Contest For Students: Geospatial Solutions." Geospatial-solutions.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.