Virginia 2020 ArcGIS Competition theme announced:
“How has the use of resources impacted the lives of Virginians?”
The Virginia Geographic Alliance promotes geo-literacy by providing effective professional development programs that enhance the teaching and learning of geography and that demonstrate the value of geographic knowledge and spatial thinking to educators, policy makers, and community members.
Our Vision:
The Virginia Geographic Alliance fosters and supports the enduring power of the geographic perspective in social, environmental and geospatial sciences as they develop in schools, universities, businesses, governments and communications media to advance geo-literacy. Acquiring geographic knowledge, skills and technologies enables people to become productive citizens and lifelong learners who
►recognize the importance of place and local-to-global connections,
►understand changing human-environment interactions, and
►apply environmental and spatial perspectives in decision-making and problem-solving.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Latest News, Professional Development Opportunities,
and Teaching Resources
September Steering Committee Meeting
The September 26th Steering Committee Meeting will remain a virtual meeting on Zoom. We hope you can participate as we continue to navigate challenging times. … Continue reading
National Geographic Society awards grant of nearly $50,000 to a team of Albemarle County Public Schools educators
According to an Albemarle County Public Schools news release, “the grant awarded to ACPS will put Charlottesville at the center of understanding how to use … Continue reading
Asia for Educators
Asia for Educators is a program for K-12 educators offered by Columbia University. They are announcing a new geography unit online to support teachers. East Asia … Continue reading
The Where of Why: GIS in the Humanities Classroom. Next Session Starts September 14, 2020
Humanities in Class Online Courses from the National Humanities Center Earn Professional Development Credits Often, when teaching about historical events, there is an over-emphasis on … Continue reading
Newly available resource: African-Americans in the Atlantic world of the 1700s
Liberty, Race and Slavery in British North America in the Age of the Enlightenment In the light of the Black Lives Matter movement in the … Continue reading
NOAA publishes Environmental Literacy Program (ELP) Community Resilience Education Theory of Change
Environmental Literacy Program (ELP) Community Resilience Education Theory of Change This publication outlines the conceptual framework for the ways in which community resilience education can … Continue reading
Texas State University announces online Masters and PhD programs in Geographic Education
The following programs are scheduled to begin in Fall 2020. Scholarships are available. Masters in Applied Geography (Geographic Education) Scholarships with Out-of-state Tuition Waivers Available … Continue reading
Podcast on legacy of pandemics in the Americas
Dr. W. George Lovell, Professor of Geography at Queens University in Ontario, Canada and Visiting Professor in Latin American History at the Universidad Pablo de … Continue reading
FREE PD – #YouCanMapThat: Using GIS to Enhance the Classroom
The Virginia Geographic Alliance is excited to offer the online, 8-hour professional development workshop, #YouCanMapThat: Using GIS to Enhance the Classroom. It is open to grades K-12 … Continue reading
Online Course: The Where of Why: GIS in the Humanities Classroom
VGA members Chris Bunin and Christine Esposito are working with the National Humanities Center to offer professional development that carries 35 professional development hours. The … Continue reading
Esri Now Offering Students Access to Software at No-Cost
Esri is committed to supporting students and educators amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) college and university closures. As part of our continued efforts, Esri … Continue reading
National Geographic Learn at Home Resources
Classroom Resources: National Geographic Education Resource Library contains thousands of items like photographs, lessons, units, videos, articles, and much more that can be filtered by … Continue reading
VGA Webinars support remote teaching using ArcGIS Online
The VGA GIS team shared a series of webinars this week to support remote teaching and learning of history and geography via ArcGIS Online: Teaching … Continue reading
Esri offers Mapping Hour, free instructional videos for ArcGIS Online
Mapping Hour is a free set of 20 informal one-hour instructional videos about ArcGIS Online for parents and teachers, with chunks that scaffold concepts and skills … Continue reading
VGA makes new digital Atlas of Virginia available to public schools free of charge through June 30, 2020
An Atlas of Virginia -3rd edition BETA Now available for free to all K12 Public Schools through June 30, 2020 In an effort to support teachers … Continue reading
