onGEO launches new online Geovisualization course

December 13, 2022

The Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences is launching a new course focusing on geospatial visualization skills and tools for GIS professionals. The course, entitled Geovisualization: Temporal and Interactive Mapping, is offered through the onGEO Professional Certificate program. It will be offered for the first time beginning January 9, 20023, during the first of two 7-week Professional Certificate sessions during the spring semester. The course will run for seven weeks and costs $875.

Written by Dr. Kyle Redican, MSU-GEO Alum & Director of the Spatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Richmond, the course is designed to meet the geospatial visualization needs of many different GIS professionals by introducing students to ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online (AGOL), RStudio, and GitHub. Students will put this new knowledge to use by also building an online portfolio (as an ArcGIS StoryMap) of their course projects.

Almost everything in Geovisualizations could be applicable to many different GIS professionals. The content is not explicitly economic, environmental, or human-based but focuses more on the tools and opportunities available to present data. This is an excellent course for students looking for an engaging way to maximize your organization’s ArcGIS Online (AGOL) presence or how to work with temporally dynamic data.

The course builds the cartographic and geovisualization skills that GIS professionals need in order to create visualizations that help inform decision-making. “Geovisualizations is a bit of a grab bag of different techniques that are popular in the GIS professional landscape,” said Beth Weisenborn, director of the onGEO Group, the unit devoted to developing and delivering online courses in Geography within the MSU Geography department. “This course doesn’t focus just on creating static maps but really helps students to think about how to use visualization and presentation of their data to make interactive maps that will connect with their intended audiences.”

Course units will include ArcGIS StoryMaps, data dashboards, flow maps and animations, and census API and web mapping. Click here to view the course syllabus. Click here to learn more and register.

Additional onGEO Professional Certificate Courses will also be offered this spring. These 7-week professional development courses can be taken individually or in combination to earn a Professional Certificate in GIS. This certificate aims to advance the skill set of professionals currently working in fields that use geospatial technologies. It is also an excellent opportunity for all professionals and others looking to revamp their current careers, earn continuing education or teaching credits, or simply further their education. Click here to learn more.