Education "I consider the T3G to be the official start of my career teaching GIS to my students. This was an exceptional institute and was extremely well organized." Rich Schultz, Assistant Professor of Geosciences and GIS, Elmhurst College, Illinois Jackie Stenehjem, an assistant professor at Williston State College in North Dakota, used GPS and ArcGIS to map an invasive species, the Tree of Heaven, found on Gilman Ranch in California and created this interactive map in PDF format. and views, toggled between 3D and 2D map displays, and experimented with other new ArcGIS Explorer functions. A project incorporating several skill-building activities was centered around a midweek field trip to Gilman Historic Ranch and Wagon Museum, a local park in nearby Riverside County, California. In the classroom, the historic and geographic context of the park was presented using ArcGIS Explorer. Then participants created basemaps of the park using ArcGIS and readily available data. On the field trip, they collected GPS waypoints and tracks and at each point collected data on a variety of phenomena such as roads, trails, extent of invasive species, fruit tree inventory, bird sightings, and temperature measurements. Back in the classroom the next day, participants downloaded the GPS data into ArcView for display on their basemaps. Using the topic of the data collected as a starting point, each person created map documents, ArcGIS Explorer presentations, or maps exported as PDFs. The resultant maps could become the basis for a class or workshop lesson. Afterward, an impromptu "gallery walk" through the classroom left everyone amazed and inspired. At the end of each day, participants completed a daily questionnaire that enabled the instructor team to adjust the schedule or fine-tune www.esri.com its approach for the next day to meet the needs of the participants. An evaluation for the full week was given on the last day of the event, followed with a short online survey a month later. T3G Institute participants are also required to make a presentation, conduct a hands-on GIS workshop for educators, and develop a lesson and post it to the ArcLessons Web site within six months of the class. Toward that end, each participant was required to develop a personal action plan with goals and supporting tasks. They presented these action plans to the group on the final afternoon of the institute. This was seen as a valuable exercise—several participants had revised existing plans or had been inspired to take a new approach to a previous goal. Fitzpatrick said, "We do not expect attendees to become full-time trainers. We do want them to have new skills, a more vigorous vision for how GIS can be used in instruction, a set of best practices, and support to enhance and expand what they are already doing." By the end of the week, everyone involved had built a network of enthusiastic peers whom they can call upon for assistance, moral support, and collaboration. An online group for all T3G Institute participants and instructors was established for During a midweek field trip to a local county park, participants collected GPS waypoints and tracks and at each point collected data on a variety of phenomena such as roads, trails, extent of invasive species, fruit tree inventory, bird sightings, and temperature measurements. ongoing communication and exchange of information and ideas. Follow-up Web meetings to cover additional topics and discuss participant progress and challenges are planned monthly through the end of the year. Second T3G Institute The 2010 T3G Institute sponsored by Esri will be held June 13–19, 2010. Apply before Nov. 30, 2009. Forms and information are available at the Esri Education Community Web site (edcommunity.esri.com). ArcUser Fall 2009 65