Our World GIS Education Book Series from ESRI Press Wins the Geography Excellence in Media Award

The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) will bestow the award during its National Conference on Geography Education, being held from October 9–12 in Dearborn, Michigan. Plaques will be given to Eileen J. Napoleon and Erin A. Brook, who wrote Thinking Spatially Using GIS; Roger and Anita M. Palmer, Lyn Malone, and Christine L. Voigt, authors of Mapping Our World Using GIS and Analyzing Our World Using GIS; and Kathryn Keranen and Dr. Robert Kolvoord, who coauthored Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS.

The four books, published earlier this year by ESRI Press, provide a strong GIS foundation for students of all educational levels, from elementary school pupils to college undergraduates. "Our World GIS Education was chosen to receive the GEM award because our review committee believed the series is an excellent way to introduce GIS earlier than at the college level with well-written lessons that cover a broad range of geography content," said Kimberly Crews, executive director of the NCGE, based in Washington, D.C.

Using the books and accompanying GIS software developed by ESRI, students learn to read and understand maps, analyze spatial patterns, map data, think critically, and solve problems. The lessons tie into earth sciences, social studies, history, geography, environmental studies, and other subjects being taught in classrooms today.

"ESRI Press considers this award a great honor and appreciates the support of NCGE in our aim to further the importance of GIS in studying geographic concepts," said Peter Adams, ESRI Press manager. "While crafting the series, we were careful to keep in mind that many geography instructors, as well as their students, will be exposed to geographic information systems for the first time through these books. We view this award as evidence that we succeeded at some level in making these texts accessible."

The lessons fit into teachers' curricula, meeting National Geography, National Science, and National Technology standards. The materials in Analyzing Our World Using GIS and Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS infuse skills in students that are advocated by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills including problem solving, global awareness, communication, collaboration, and information technologies literacy.

The Our World GIS Education book series was inspired by and builds on the materials in Mapping Our World: GIS Lessons for Educators, the popular 2005 ESRI Press book geared to middle and high school students.

George Dailey, the K–12 Education manager at ESRI, and Angela Lee, Libraries and Museums manager at ESRI, also will be feted by NCGE on Saturday for their contributions to geography education. Dailey and Lee will receive the organization's Distinguished Teaching Achievement (DTA) award.

NCGE, founded in 1915, is the premier national professional geography education association in North America. The organization, which has about 2,000 members, publishes two journals, The Geography Teacher and the Journal of Geography, along with Perspective, the member newsletter.