WWU Notes - ESRI Academy (& Suggested Tutorials)

As a WWU student or employee many of the online ESRI Academy tutorials and courses (formerly ESRI's e-Learning courses and even more formerly the "Virtual Campus") are available for free. To take a course, you will need to have WWU ArcGIS Online user account, which you can create by following the instructions on the WWU ArcGIS Online User Accounts page  (anyone with a WWU login can create an ESRI ArcGIS Online account). Once you have an account you will be a member of WWU's ESRI Organization and can take as many of the courses, tutorials and videos, etc. as you like. 

 

Finding and Taking Online Courses

Once you have a WWU ArcGIS Online user account you can search ESRI's catalog and take classes (see course search suggestions below):

  • Go to the ESRI Academy training page
  • Sign In (using the Sign In link in the upper right)
    • In the Sign In dialog box:
      • Click the Your ArcGIS Organization's URL option (formerly labeled as Enterprise Login)
      • Enter wwu to complete the organization url (i.e., wwu.maps.arcgis.com)
      • Click Continue
      • Click the WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY button
        • If prompted, from the Western Sign In page:
        • Enter your WWU email address and click Next
        • Enter your WWU password and click Sign In​
  • From the Catalog dropdown list, click Course Catalog
  • Enter a topic into the Search Courses box
    • Optionally browse by Topic (i.e., Getting Started or Field Mobility)
    • Optionally restrict the search to certain Formats (i.e., Web Courses, Tutorials or Videos)
    • Optionally restrict the search to certain Products (i.e., ArcGIS PRO )
  • Click one of the Course Cards in the Results section to learn more about a course
  • From the Course page, click Launch Course to begin the course

 

Returning to a Course which you have begun

Once you have begun a course you can return to it from your My Learning page (or the Training Dashboard or your Learning Activity page):

  • Sign In to the ESRI Academy training page (see above)
  • From the My Academy dropdown list, click My Dashboard
  • In the My Learning Activity you will find a list of courses
  • Click on the Resume Course link for the course you would like to continue

 

Using ESRI's Online Web Courses

  • If you don't finish a course your profile will remember where you left off for when you return.
  • Course data can be downloaded.
  • Some courses have a series of 'modules.' Courses and/or modules often have an exercise or exercises. At the end of most courses or modules will be a Review section and an Exam. Successful completion of the exam(s) will be rewarded by a completion certificate (which you might want to print for the benefit of your WWU faculty should they require it, or submit a .pdf of the Certificate to Canvas).
  • To view / print your Certificate return to your Learning Activity page and click the View Certificate link for the completed course.
  • Note that you can download your Certificate as a .pdf file (alternatively you can 'print' your certificate to a .pdf file).
  • Printing: While students are discouraged from printing the entire e-Learning course, many find printing the Exercises to be helpful. To print just the Exercise (and not the Table of Contents, etc), use the Print icon in the upper right hand section of the Exercise.  

 

Suggestions & Tips for Searching the ESRI Academy Courses and Tutorials

(note that some of these require a WWU ArcGIS Online user account to access - others are open to the general public)
(note that many of these are used in the various GIS courses offered at the College of the Environment)

Within the ESRI Academy there are a few different ways to find relevant courses. One option is their 'Learning Plans.' A Learning Plan is essentially a list of courses aimed as central theme, and you can search for things like 'Fundamentals,' 'Getting Started,' 'ArcGIS Pro,' etc. For example, two of the beginner Learning Plans are:  'Get Started with ArcGIS Using ArcGIS Pro' and a 'ArcGIS Pro Fundamentals' each of which are made up of 10 different individual ESRI Academy courses. Note that you can either follow the plan, or just use it as a list of possible courses to think about.

The other main option is to browse the Course Catalog directly. In the Course Catalog, in addition to searching for relevant terms there are various filters that can be applied. The first is the top level selection of 'Topics.' For beginners, a good place to start would be the 'Getting Started' Topic. Below the 'Browse By Topic' section there are options to filter by Format and Product. The main recommended Format is Web Courses, but there are also Tutorials, Videos, etc. Checking one (or more) Formats will limit the courses listed. For Products, the main choice will be ArcGIS Pro or ArcGIS Online. There are also options for Desktop Extensions, ArcMap, etc. Finally, there is an option for limiting the results for Free vs. 'Maintenance' (i.e., non-Free) courses. As a member of WWU's ArcGIS Online organization you can take either. Having specified Format and/or Product filters, and optionally identified a Topic, you can then search by key word or content (for example 'Basics,' 'Raster,' 'Suitability,' 'Python,' etc.

Additional Resources (documents, etc.)

 

Migrating from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro