Ian Turton wrote:
I've had a slightly different experience. I've been teaching an early undergrad "Intro to Spatial Technologies" course to natural resource conservation students and have successfully used QGIS in this teaching. Some bugs we hit bothered some students, but many liked the idea that they had a GIS system on their laptops and that they could do some real integration of aerial photos, GIS layers, and simple database construction on their own machines. They could do the homeworks whenever they wanted, rather than go to designated computer labs. They could use it on their own projects after the class was over. At the same time, they knew that the job market looked for experience with other platforms. So currently I teach a higher-level Applied GIS course using ESRI products as I always have. But I think this is one way to get college students exposed and potentially using open GIS technologies.Currently universities are locked in a vicious circle with GIS software in that the students demand we teach them on ESRI software because that's what employers want and employers use ESRI software as that is what the universities are teaching the students on.So *I* think that universities are a lost cause
This connects back to my earlier education post that Frank Warmerdam responded to. He asked:
"I would have thought it would be more productive to take existing curriculum guidelines and get project support in rebuilding them around
foss projects/products. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding?"I agree with this point, and I think that is what some, like Tyler M has been suggesting. However, I find myself wondering from a technology-learning angle, are there more specialized knowledge needed in the FOSS Geo space?
What kinds of skills are needed to contribute to the further development of various FOSS Geo technologies (this gets at the "joining/recruitment" issue of new developers) or building a community of user-driven innovators? And what kinds of skills are needed for users of FOSS Geo technologies? E.g., Desktop or Web-based GIS? For example, if I want to show a student how to map using OpenLayers, what would that student need to know? Or what skills would a student need to have to implement a Map Server application? Is the idea of a curriculum around "FOSS Geo technologies" -- such as a "certificate" -- a useful idea for us to pursue?
Or am I off target here? If I'm not, I'm open to ideas on how to mobilize a group to work on this curriculum effort... William Kinghorn who I met in South Africa has written ideas on "exam areas" that might be a start... if people want to join in this idea let me know and perhaps I should schedule a Skype conference call to discuss more... I'd also like to find someone to take the lead on organizing and running this curriculum effort.
Charlie
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