User Community

Talking with other users is a great way to get answers to your questions or identify ways to enhance your GIS program. ESRI supports user interaction through a variety of conferences, special interest group meetings, and user communication forums.

• ESRI Education Community
  Zone for learning about software, projects, and materials, and sharing with other members in the community.
• ESRI Schools & Libraries Discussion Forum
  An online forum where you can post questions about GIS in education or read about projects others have done.
• Regional User Groups for ESRI Software Users
  Connect with professional GIS users in your area through your regional user group.  GIS professionals often have local data and technical expertise to share, and may be interested in hiring student interns.
• EdGIS
  An e-mail list hosted by TERC where people talk about the use of GIS in education.

Partners and Projects involved with GIS

Many of these projects or groups are making use of GIS in powerful ways for helping education. Some are producing data that is tailor-made for use with GIS. All of them work to help teachers engage their classes in activities that involve critical thinking about spatial information.

• National Geographic Society Geography Alliance Network
• National Geographic Society (NGS)
• U.S. 4-H Program
• CMaP at the Institute for Technology Development
• EAST Initiative
• KidzOnline Geospatial 21 Project
• The GLOBE Program
• TERC

Associations and Professional Societies

These organizations sponsor conferences and other professional development opportunities where you can learn more about GIS.

• National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE)
• National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
• Geological Society of America (GSA)
• Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
• American Congress on Surveying & Mapping (ACSM)
• American Society of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
• Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA)
• Urban & Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)