Increasing the Pipeline to Careers Supported by Geospatial Technology through Professional Development for Rural Educators

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Geospatial technologies are rapidly becoming a key part of many disciplines from energy distribution fields locating downed power lines to agriculture in optimized fertilizer placement on crop plots. Early exposure to career options increases the numbers of women and minorities in these key fields. The goal of this project is to increase the pipeline of technicians toward careers which are served by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies through professional development and outreach to educators. The project is providing geospatial professional development training to Career and Technical Education (CTE) and high school (HS) educators. As part of this training, MTI has provided curriculum and teaching kits so the educators can further provide the training to high school age students. These exercises include activities that are actual examples of current career opportunities from a variety of fields such as agriculture and energy distribution. This project is following plans that are similar to a national trend in geospatial professional development trainings and is backed by well-trained instructors. This project is Stage 1 of a 2 stage plan. It is the research and framework for larger scale dual credit curriculum development that encompasses established high school and CTE standards.