Isn't That Spatial? # 8: Teaching Geography Using DLESE
Note: This column originally appeared in the October-November 2004 issue of Perspective from the National Council for Geographic Education.
Author:
USGS
Geographer
Box 25046 - MS 507
Denver CO 80225-0046 USA
Tel 303 202 4315
What is DLESE?
Educators usually don't have time during the workday to pore through online resources in our
information-rich world. That's where a digital education library like DLESE is so helpful.
DLESE stands for "Digital Library for Earth System Education," a geoscience community
resource that supports teaching and learning. Since its focus is analyzing the Earth as a
System, DLESE is particularly suited for geography education. DLESE is funded by the
National Science Foundation, and is being built by a community of educators, students, and
scientists to support Earth system education at all levels. DLESE is part of the National
Science Digital Library (NSDL), which serves the broader communities of science, technology,
engineering, and math education. DLESE resources are pertinent to geography educators from
primary to university level. Access DLESE by visiting:
http://www.dlese.org
Why use DLESE?
If you would like easy access to teaching and learning resources about the Earth as a system
for a wide range of learners, this is the site for you. In 10 minutes of using the site, I
discovered wonderful resources for teaching using an endangered species board game, a video
of satellite imagery spanning 23 years of urban growth in Washington DC, an animation of the
USA population pyramid from 1950 projected to 2050, and data on the size of the ozone hole
since the 1970s.
I recommend visiting DLESE periodically to examine their current featured "Resource of
Interest." The American Field Guide was recently featured, a vast array of video clips of a
wide variety of wilderness environments throughout America. These videos can be browsed by
categories that include animals, ecosystems, Earth and space, plants, and public policy.
Lesson plans for middle and high school weave segments of video together into units of
inquiry around specific topics. The standards-based lessons were all written by high school
teachers, and available on: http://www.pbs.org/americanfieldguide/index.html
Resources in DLESE include lesson plans, scientific data, visualizations, interactive
computer models, GIS-based lessons, and virtual field trips. What's more, much of the
content in DLESE is extensively reviewed. There are no "average" lessons here--all are well
researched, well-documented, pertinent to the topic they cover, interesting, inquiry-driven,
standards-based, and in a nutshell, useful in the classroom!
One of the best things about DLESE is in its careful descriptions of its resources and
services. That's essential for such a large library - nearly 8,700 when this article was
written. These descriptions are created by Earth system educators, scientists, and
librarians. These descriptions are analogous to the ones in your local library. DLESE
descriptions also include the grade level, education standards, technical requirements,
creator, publisher, and other information. Then, you can quickly decide which resource will
best meet your needs. Tired of sites where half the links are dead? DLESE doesn't host any
resources, but keeps checking to ensure that the resources in the library remain accessible
and functional.
Many of DLESE's resources are organized in collections, or groups of related resources that
reflect a coherent, focused theme. In many ways, digital collections are analogous to
collections in traditional libraries.
DLESE also provides tools to allow students to explore Earth-related data, and services to
help users create, use and evaluate digital learning resources.
How to Use DLESE
Through http://www.dlese.org, the collection can be browsed through keywords like any other digital
library, but since the resources are all focused on earth systems, even a keyword search is
useful. I received 71 resources when entering "Change Over Time" versus 15,600,000 for a
similar search using http://www.google.com.
Even more useful is the fact that DLESE allows for
narrowing the search based on grade level, resource type (such as classroom activity, field
activity, oral history, map, and so on), collections, and standards.
How to Get Involved With DLESE
DLESE is more than just a web catalog. It is a community of educators and a set of services.
Services sponsored by DLESE for educators include peer-review systems, workshops, technical
training to support future library developments, tools and interfaces to explore Earth data,
and on-line community services that facilitate sharing among the DLESE community.
I and others have been working with the DLESE community for several years. DLESE is housed
at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Sciences
(UCAR) in Boulder. I can personally
attest that they have some of the smartest, most enthusiastic people involved. I and other
geography educators have participated in their annual conferences. My photo-report on one of
these conferences is on:
http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/public/outreach/reports/dlese03t.pdf
If you attend a DLESE Annual Meeting, you will meet educators and developers with similar
interests, learn about fascinating resources, network with new colleagues, and you can make
your geography education voice heard!
We help teach DLESE-sponsored workshops, for example, a workshop that I co-taught in
Colorado:
http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/public/outreach/reports/dlese04t.pdf
You could contribute a resource or lesson that you have created or borrowed, making geography
education an even more prominent part of the collection. You can join a listserv to discuss
relevant issues with or post an announcement to DLESE community members. You can register
with DLESE to receive DLESE Matters, their e-newsletter, and periodic email updates.
You can collaborate with a DLESE core service to build library collections or services.
DLESE needs the input of you, the geography education community! Think about attending their
annual conference in summer 2005. An engaged community is fundamental to the DLESE vision.
DLESE is governed by an elected Steering committee who provides oversight and guidance. The
DLESE Annual Meeting provides a forum for broad community input into library future
development.
The collection would also benefit from lessons that you have created. All resources in DLESE
have been contributed by community members, just like you.
Take advantage of a library where someone has done much of the work for you, leaving you to
do what you want to do--not surf the web, but to teach!