The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Students and teachers are set to reap tremendous benefits with the decision by Manitoba's Ministry of Education, Citizenship and Youth to license geographic information system (GIS) software for all publicly funded schools in Manitoba. As a result of this decision, students and teachers will have access to state-of-the-art GIS software. "To prepare students for their roles in society, Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth has identified technology, along with literacy and communication, problem solving, and human relations, as a foundation skill area to be developed in every subject area and grade," said Colleen Raymond, Education Industry Manager, ESRI Canada. "Development of technology as a foundation skill area will not only enable students to use technology to learn, but will also enhance their understanding of the connections between technology, society, and the environment. ESRI's ArcView is the world's leading desktop GIS software package and Manitoba students will join more than half a million other users worldwide." Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth's (MECY) mission is to provide access to superior quality education and training to the province's public and independent school systems and to its post-secondary institutions. MECY is currently developing new social studies curricula for kindergarten to grade 12 (K-12) to ensure relevant educational content in all subject areas. GIS will make a significant contribution to the new curriculum, helping to teach students valuable skills and showing them how those skills can be applied in the real world. "The infusion of GIS in K-12 education offers students the opportunity to learn the importance of geography in their world, while engaging them in studies that require and promote critical thinking and integrated learning," said Alex Miller, President, ESRI Canada. "ESRI Canada is committed to supporting Canadian schools in the implementation of GIS through our Schools and Libraries program." MECY and ESRI Canada's Schools and Libraries program are working together to ensure maximum accessibility to GIS technology across the province. Licensing includes unlimited access to web-based GIS training for teachers in Manitoba public schools from kindergarten to Senior 4 (Grade 12). In addition, MECY has selected the ArcCanada data CD-ROM set as a companion resource for ArcView, providing a rich set of lessons and data to support the technology. ESRI's Spatial Analyst extension for ArcView will provide students with tools to create, query, map, and analyze cell-based raster data, and build and share spatial models. French immersion schools will have access to the French Language Supplement for ArcView. "The availability of ArcView GIS software and ArcCanada data in schools throughout Manitoba is undoubtedly the most significant development in social studies education since I began teaching in the mid-seventies," said Al Friesen, a teacher at Neelin High School in Brandon, Manitoba.
