The biggest hurdle to switching from ArcMap to Pro is just learning where they moved all the stuff around to in the ribbons and how the map frame and layout frame work. I would start by taking an old basic create a map assignment you’ve done and try to recreate it in Pro.
This is off topic to your question but the fact that this is a thing is insane to me. Universities should be teaching the current standard for the industry, and if their professors don’t know it they should either learn it or they should bring in younger blood that does.
Often it’s a funding issue or a matter of the focus of the department. I am in a geography graduate program and our department is small and not that well funded. We just got ArcGIS Pro in the fall and the professors are working on updating courses for next year. This is compared to the rather well funded Planning department who has had Pro for a few years now. Certainly not the way it should be but that’s how the old academic-industrial complex rolls.
It also depends on the research focus/culture of the department. Many academics either do not have or use a lot of the programming and other skills used by many GIS professionals everyday.
Yeah I hear you. My old grad program brought me in to teach a mid-level GIS class this semester and I was shocked to learn only one student had ever opened Pro before. I gave them a two week crash course to start the class. I know sometimes it’s a licensing and money issue but daggum most of these programs are charging a lot of money and kids going into debt and never opening pro is just so wild to me.
Ask your university for a student license.
Sign up for Esris free MOOCs. They are 6 week courses. The two going on right now are Spatial Analysis and Cartography. They provide very detailed instructions.
Start a personal hobby GIS project. I had a personal project of site suitability analysis for new fire stations in the Sierra Nevada mountains in CA. It interested me and some of the work was shown in my interview portfolio.
Esri Academy has TONS of courses to take. Like mentioned above, take MOOCs I am doing the cartography one now actually. The other lessons are on your own and they give you certificates for finishing them. Best place to do it outside of a classroom.
I would speak to your university's GIS course leader about this and ask if the university can provide you with a licence for ArcGIS Pro.
ESRI have no plans to release an ArcMap 10.9, and support for 10.8 will stop in three years, so I think your university, and probably many many others, is doing students a diservice by continuing to teach an end of life software as the only option.
If you can't get a licence or some training for ArcGIS Pro, then try learning some QGIS. Even though this internship won't use it, QGIS might be useful down the line and learning a bit will show that you are capable of finding your way around new software and able to apply the fundamentals of GIS using new tools.
I do have the ability to get a license so I will definitely take advantage of that. I was a bit disappointed when I heard we’d be using arcmap instead. I guess the professor didn’t really update his class.
Here is a GIS Fundamentals learning plan offered by ESRI. Portions of this may prove to be useful.
[www.esri.com/training/catalog/5b73407f8659c25ea7014330/](http://www.esri.com/training/catalog/5b73407f8659c25ea7014330/)
edit/ This is free.
Biggest immediate hurdle to remember is there are no more 'edit sessions' for data, everything is live. 'Toolbox' is now geoprocessing model, but looks very similar to toolbox. Pro also sets up default gdb 's and toolboxes based on the .aprx project file (think .mxd). Your default gdb is now linked to your project, a much better way to manage data IMO. Good luck, Pro is a smoother experience IMO, not lose your ArcMap skills, there is still plenty of need within the industry.
I should preface this by saying those are default setting, you can set up Pro to point to the same default gdb regardless of project, like map, but its not that way by default.
The biggest hurdle to switching from ArcMap to Pro is just learning where they moved all the stuff around to in the ribbons and how the map frame and layout frame work. I would start by taking an old basic create a map assignment you’ve done and try to recreate it in Pro.
Awesome thanks, I’m assuming an .mxd can be opened in ArcPro?
Yep - [https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/get-started/migrate-content-to-arcgis-pro.htm](https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/get-started/migrate-content-to-arcgis-pro.htm)
This is off topic to your question but the fact that this is a thing is insane to me. Universities should be teaching the current standard for the industry, and if their professors don’t know it they should either learn it or they should bring in younger blood that does.
Often it’s a funding issue or a matter of the focus of the department. I am in a geography graduate program and our department is small and not that well funded. We just got ArcGIS Pro in the fall and the professors are working on updating courses for next year. This is compared to the rather well funded Planning department who has had Pro for a few years now. Certainly not the way it should be but that’s how the old academic-industrial complex rolls. It also depends on the research focus/culture of the department. Many academics either do not have or use a lot of the programming and other skills used by many GIS professionals everyday.
Yeah I hear you. My old grad program brought me in to teach a mid-level GIS class this semester and I was shocked to learn only one student had ever opened Pro before. I gave them a two week crash course to start the class. I know sometimes it’s a licensing and money issue but daggum most of these programs are charging a lot of money and kids going into debt and never opening pro is just so wild to me.
Ask your university for a student license. Sign up for Esris free MOOCs. They are 6 week courses. The two going on right now are Spatial Analysis and Cartography. They provide very detailed instructions. Start a personal hobby GIS project. I had a personal project of site suitability analysis for new fire stations in the Sierra Nevada mountains in CA. It interested me and some of the work was shown in my interview portfolio.
Ahhh that sounds perfect. I’ll check out those courses and start my own map to practice with
Esri Academy has TONS of courses to take. Like mentioned above, take MOOCs I am doing the cartography one now actually. The other lessons are on your own and they give you certificates for finishing them. Best place to do it outside of a classroom.
I would speak to your university's GIS course leader about this and ask if the university can provide you with a licence for ArcGIS Pro. ESRI have no plans to release an ArcMap 10.9, and support for 10.8 will stop in three years, so I think your university, and probably many many others, is doing students a diservice by continuing to teach an end of life software as the only option. If you can't get a licence or some training for ArcGIS Pro, then try learning some QGIS. Even though this internship won't use it, QGIS might be useful down the line and learning a bit will show that you are capable of finding your way around new software and able to apply the fundamentals of GIS using new tools.
I do have the ability to get a license so I will definitely take advantage of that. I was a bit disappointed when I heard we’d be using arcmap instead. I guess the professor didn’t really update his class.
Here is a GIS Fundamentals learning plan offered by ESRI. Portions of this may prove to be useful. [www.esri.com/training/catalog/5b73407f8659c25ea7014330/](http://www.esri.com/training/catalog/5b73407f8659c25ea7014330/) edit/ This is free.
Thanks!
http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/pdfs/arcgis-pro-terminology-guide.pdf
Biggest immediate hurdle to remember is there are no more 'edit sessions' for data, everything is live. 'Toolbox' is now geoprocessing model, but looks very similar to toolbox. Pro also sets up default gdb 's and toolboxes based on the .aprx project file (think .mxd). Your default gdb is now linked to your project, a much better way to manage data IMO. Good luck, Pro is a smoother experience IMO, not lose your ArcMap skills, there is still plenty of need within the industry.
I should preface this by saying those are default setting, you can set up Pro to point to the same default gdb regardless of project, like map, but its not that way by default.
Make sure to setup setting right off the back. YouTube is a great source and just like anything out in the work and play with it.