Ha - I can't even spell Briliant.
For instance - the school I work with has built a 2 week curriculum
around open street map. The teacher (a former college associate from
many years ago) knows the basics so the kids get a taste. The problem is
I don't like the curriculum because they need to interface with the OSM
community - and I can't interface with the OSM community without
cursing. So one week 3 years ago I burned a lot of time trying to teach.
I can't teach kids. Plus a week from work (while only an hour a day - I
work for me) was a bit much.
Kids know (I can only speak to the US) "GIS" - they have smart phones.
They know location ("How do I get to a Coffee Shop") and the phone
routes them there. So the lessons don't have to start at "this is a
computer" which in some cases I have to do while teaching QGIS to adults.
The lessons just have to be simple. Easy. Update-able. QGIS is at a 1
year LTR. So once a year we update the materials. Maybe GVSig?
Three giant buttons on the FOSS4G4Teachers website: Help, Download, More
Help.
What ESRI is missing with this rollout is it's internet based. The
school I work with - internet is sporadic at best (I live in a city
where we have the ability to have 1 Gigabit Fiber to the house but
schools are left out). So online lessons will not work. Give them a
bootable disk with Lessons and Community. Someone go bother Mapbox/Carto
for some "internet" based something - see if they want to help carry it
farther. Maybe we have USB Sticks for order? Something easy and small.
In 1 year you start to change the noise.
Don't get me wrong - GIS is my focus. I still have to use ESRI Software.
It's good software. I come here for Community. We have that nailed down
- it's a time issue. Maybe a language issue also (english, spanish,
and......) . We've got everything else.
On 10/28/2016 10:16 AM, Hogan, Patrick (ARC-PX) wrote:
+++++++++1
Randy, you are a brilliant voice of reason.
I’m sure the cat wants you to be free to speak.
Glad it didn’t get your tongue. ;-)
*From:*Discuss [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of
*Randal Hale
*Sent:* Friday, October 28, 2016 6:55 AM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Sharing sad news from the web...
If I can just chime in (I told my cat I wasn't).
The kicker in this is ESRI is deeply entrenched everywhere. They've
entire groups of people just focused on "giving to schools". I was at
the helm of rolling out a full ESRI rollout to a school in 2012. We
had a 50 seat lab setup. I ended up moving them over to FOSS4G 2 years
ago - and I need to go back and update their setup (they don't know
how). The school is Title 1 (which means the school is very poor). The
computers are better than what they normally get - BUT - they will be
using them longer than what they need to. They will be unable to run
the next version of ESRI Software. The computers can still run FOSS4G
software.
The teachers here in the US (and I have no doubt this is the case
everywhere) are stretched thin. That's what makes ESRI so nice. They
show up and go "here is a curriculum (of sorts) and here is 'free'
software". It's a short term win. They have people targeted to do just
that.
So what would Randy do (and I've thought about this more than I care
to mention) to introduce FOSS4G into the schools:
A bootable disk with FOSS4G software (I am partial to QGIS - other
things exist) and not everything like the OSGEO Disk. A few select
pieces of software with a purpose:
* 10 lessons of 1 hour apiece to work through that are student
oriented (maybe pick an age range - 12-16)
o Start globally and work down to locally. Maybe we have
different local datasets.
* An explanation for the teachers. They don't understand like we do
- they need us there for hand holding and encouragement. They can
manage kids - We need to help manage the lessons. I'm not a
teacher. I can teach adults - but not kids - it's a whole
different game.
* A spot where teachers can get the lessons (NOT GITHUB) and the
disk (maybe we combine all things into a bootable USB stick).
* Help - a place where they can get help (NOT GITHUB). My town has
30+ schools. If more than 1 does this I can't be everywhere. ESRI
put out a call for Geomentors. We put out a call.
* We have COMMUNITY - I don't believe ESRI currently does. They have
an advertising budget. 20 years ago they had community. We have
momentum now. Community is greater than an Advertising budget.
* Advertise it. Ask for help from the teachers.
* Update it.
I know I'm asking for a lot - it's time intensive - but I think it's
100% doable. I go to speak at 2 colleges on GIS Day on nothing but
FOSS4G.
We've got all the pieces to make this work except time. I'll carve out
some time if this gets going.
I wished the cat had stopped me. Now I'm in it.
On 10/28/2016 09:16 AM, Jeff McKenna wrote:
As if someone is reading this ha, a tweet just came across my
desk: https://twitter.com/GIS4Teachers/status/791981572991746048
So, we need to also get into that huge K-12 market, plant the open
seed early :) A challenge indeed.
Think on this over the weekend,
-jeff
On 2016-10-27 12:36 PM, SERGIO ACOSTAYLARA wrote:
Sadly, only ESRI seems to exist for some in the USA...Imagine the
consequences of
this:
http://www.pobonline.com/articles/100610-gathering-up-geospatial-pros-to-meet-massive-market-growth
Sergio Acosta y Lara
Departamento de Geomática
Dirección Nacional de Topografía
Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas
URUGUAY
(598)29157933 ints. 20329/20330
http://geoportal.mtop.gub.uy/
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North River Geographic Systems, Inc
http://www.northrivergeographic.com
[email protected]
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Randal Hale
North River Geographic Systems, Inc
http://www.northrivergeographic.com
423.653.3611 [email protected]
twitter:rjhale
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