This class was sponsored by Dr. Bob Williams with the Rivers Project and TOPS and it was held at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois. SIU hosted this one-day session called INTO TO GIS & GPS TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHERS. The session was designed for teachers to learn more about Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS), as well as how to use and teach them. The teachers developed a working knowledge of GIS and GPS, experienced Internet interactive GIS applications, and had an in depth introduction to ArcVoyager software. Then, in the field, they had the opportunity to work with a GPS unit, collect date and see how these tools, GIS and GPS, can be used with students. The classes lasted only one day but the teachers who were involved had a great time learning these new tools. The teachers learned how to create maps from their local county data and collect GPS data. Here are some of the pictures that were taken during the training session. The weather was great and the teachers enjoyed the fieldwork. We also had the opportunity to visit the Coast Guard on the Mississippi River to see how they are using GPS and GIS as related to the depths of the Mississippi River and modeling the river and its currents. Click on any picture for a larger image of the grounds, the coast guard site and the teachers hard at work learning these new technologies.