A Work/Site Alliance: Community Based GIS Education

While the market for GIS services may be growing at 35 percent per year, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) observes that the major obstacle impeding a GlS revolution is a shortage of trained GIS personnel. The Work and Spatial Information Technology Education (WORK/SITE) Partnership is developing and establishing a community-based model to integrate GIS field experiences into high schools and to prepare undergraduate students in community colleges and regional universities for careers using complex GIS technologies. WORK/SITE is testing a new educational model relying on emerging skill standards and designed to respond swiftly to changing GIS technology and expanding workplaae applications. Primary projects include community-based curriculum modules, courseware, and Project Kits the Alliance is disseminating using Internet-based technologies. In the high schools, interdisciplinary teams of four teachers and four students per teacher work on community-based projects. These address urban issues that affect the communities. Companies/organizations provide "real life" projects and data for students to develop GIS solutions focusing on urban issues such as public safety, crime reduction, brown field redevelopment, and environmental justice. The model joins partners committed to GIS -- two traditional educational institutions with businesses -- to train GIS educators and to develop curriculum which integrates employer-defined, work-based GIS projects. The curriculum permits students to be GIS practitioners while being engaged in formal GIS education at the certificate, associates, or bachelors degree levels. Because the WORK/SITE approach, when fully implemented, relies on an existing traditional educational infrastructure, it facilitates an efficient use of societal resources in expanding the availability of trained GIS personnel.