Dedicated to the Teaching of Geography in the State of Illinois
Our purpose is the promotion and enhancement of geographic knowledge in the schools and among the general populace of Illinois. To achieve this purpose, the Alliance maintains a strong grassroots organization of geographic educators from schools and universities, participates in educational reform at the district, state, and national levels. We engage in an active program of preservice and in-service teacher education, develop curriculum materials based on the National Geography Standards, and foster public awareness of the importance of geography in our society.
News and Events
Free, in-person Introduction to National Geographic’s MapMaker Workshop for Educators on April 25, 2026
The Illinois Geographical Society (IGS) and Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA) are pleased to offer a free, in-person workshop for educators on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Illinois Valley Community College (CTC Building, Conference Center Room 125) in Ottawa, Illinois, that will introduce participants to National Geographic’s MapMaker, an easy-to-use, online website that can be used by students and teachers to create online maps for a variety of topics. Unlike ArcGIS Online, MapMaker does not require online student accounts! Participants will learn the basics of MapMaker through hands-on exercises while also exploring ideas for how maps created in MapMaker may be incorporated into their teaching. The goal of the workshop is to provide participants with mapping concepts and lesson plan ideas for integrating MapMaker into their existing curriculum. The workshop will provide step-by-step instructions for using MapMaker in the classroom.
In-service and pre-service K-16 educators from any discipline are welcome to attend the workshop. No prior experience with MapMaker or mapping/GIS is needed.
Participants need to bring a laptop computer (PC or Mac). Free Wi-Fi will be available. Instructions will be provided for accessing MapMaker.
The IGA offers limited stipends to help defray travel costs for Illinois K-12 teachers to attend this workshop through its Teacher Conference Travel Support Program.
Workshop participants that are in-service Illinois K-12 teachers have the option to receive 3.25 PD hours (formerly referred to as CPDUs) from ROE #17 for successful completion of the entire workshop.
Space is limited. Please register by April 3, 2026.
We are excited to share that the workshop will be offered in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Illinois Geographical Society. As a result, we invite all workshop participants to remain in our workshop room after the completion of the workshop to join meeting attendees from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. for an educational presentation on the Illinois & Michigan (I&M) Canal National Heritage Area by its former Managing Director, Dr. Wayne Duerkes, and a complementary lunch.
Additionally, workshop participants are invited to attend one or more of the meeting field trips and banquet at Starved Rock Lodge which includes a presentation by Mr. Mark Walczynski, Park Historian for the Starved Rock Educational and Foundation. Please refer to the meeting website for details, including the costs, and to register for these meeting events.
Questions about can be directed to John Kostelnick at jkostelnick@ilstu.edu or (309) 438-7679.
Journal of Geography Article on GenAI in Geography Education
Dr. Samantha Serrano, IGA member and teacher at James B. Conant High School, has written an excellent article about the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in geography education. Geography educators at all levels will find her research very information and practical in today’s era of AI. We invite you to check out her Journal of Geography article which is freely available here.
In addition, we are excited to share that Samantha will be leading a summer IGA workshop on GenAI and geography education in June via Zoom. Look for more information about the workshop to be shared later this spring.
Traveling Maps at Metcalf Make Social Studies Matter
The recent Traveling Maps at Metcalf Make Social Studies Matter article highlights the Giant Travelling Map of Illinois that Illinois teachers can borrow free of charge from the Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA). For more information about the map and how to reserve it for your classroom, please visit Giant Map.