As Ian said, the Universities are stuck in a vicious circle. Believe it or not, faculty do try to teach a GIScience that is independent of any particular software package. But the perspective ends up being that ESRI provides both the tools and teaching materials in a consistent manner. If the faculty is focusing on software-independent ideas, then using the most readily available software makes their (and their lab managers' jobs easier). What is sorely missing is a suite of teaching materials for FOSS4G. Most of the books for FOSS4G are written for programmers. If you've ever gotten near a GIS course homed in a Geography Department, you know that the students taking the course are decidedly not programmers. (In fact, this is also how ESRI entrenches their software - by enable a massive array of functionality without relying on actual programming).
I surely don't need another project right now, but I've been trolling to find a co-author to create a cookbook-style Python geoprocessing book that uses GDAL/OGR and other FOSS libraries. This would be considered a text for a fairly advanced GIS course. As for teaching labs, I think we are developing a good experience-base with the OpenGeo LiveDVD. I used that DVD for the workshop I lead at GIS in the Rockies on GeoServer. It worked brilliantly for a simple workshop like that. What's missing is the ability to save the state. University labs frequently require multiple sessions to get through and build on one another - unlike the OpenGeo GeoServer workshop that can be cranked out in 45 minutes and is done. Maybe we should focus on a GIS on a stick product rather than a LiveDVD? -Eric -=--=---=----=----=---=--=-=--=---=----=---=--=-=- Eric B. Wolf New! 720-334-7734 USGS Geographer Center of Excellence in GIScience PhD Student CU-Boulder - Geography On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 8:54 AM, Ian Turton <ijtur...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 10:32 AM, Peter Batty <pe...@ebatty.com> wrote: > > > I think that programs to encourage greater use of OSGeo products in > > universities would be a great idea too - ESRI dominate in this area at > the > > moment, but this would be another way to get the word out to a broader > > audience. > > 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. > > The fact that ESRI are giving the software away for free (or nearly > free) doesn't help. I'd love to teach more (undergraduate) students > with FOSS but first I have to find technician time to install the > software on all the lab machines in the university (which is where > ArcMap is provided) for just one course (and any way why can't I use > Arc like everyone else will be the question). Of course we're supposed > to be teaching techniques not software packages but you still spend > most of your time sorting out the software issues. > > So *I* think that universities are a lost cause and we should focus on > high schools - but in many states ESRI has got there before us and has > signed deals with the state to provide arc in schools at no cost to > the school. When I query teachers as to how the kids will do their > homework they usually shrug and point out it's too hard for them to do > on their own or that they can use the school library. May be > elementary schools are the winnable battlefield? > > Ian > -- > Ian Turton > These are definitely my views and not Penn States! > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss >
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