From muneer.sm at gmail.com  Sat Feb 14 08:37:06 2009
From: muneer.sm at gmail.com (muneer rehman)
Date: Sat Feb 14 08:52:18 2009
Subject: [OSGeo-Edu] muneer rehman sent you a Friend Request on Yaari
Message-ID: <f41c303a554acb44f77e9d4f9f8585c8@localhost.localdomain>

muneer rehman wants you to join Yaari!

Is muneer your friend?

<a href="http://yaari.com/?controller=user&action=mailregister&friend=1&sign=YaariDUT402JAM283RMV576WJR989">Yes, muneer is my friend!</a> <a href="http://yaari.com/?controller=user&action=mailregister&friend=0&sign=YaariDUT402JAM283RMV576WJR989">No, muneer isn't my friend.</a>

Please respond or muneer may think you said no :(

Thanks,
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YaariDUT402JAM283RMV576WJR989

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From cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu  Sat Feb 21 23:05:58 2009
From: cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu (Charlie Schweik)
Date: Sun Feb 22 00:19:07 2009
Subject: [OSGeo-Edu] Greetings OSGeo education group
Message-ID: <49A0CF26.4010104@pubpol.umass.edu>

Greetings OSGeo Edu folks:

I'm sorry I haven't been very good at keeping the group moving forward 
over the last few months. I'm trying to finish a book manuscript, which, 
along with a heavy teaching load, is taking most of my time. But I'm 
hoping this week to post new entries to our new versions of some 
educational tutorials (QGIS v .11) this week on our educational material 
database system:

INPUT FORM: https://www.osgeo.org/node/add/edu-content
SEARCH FORM: http://www.osgeo.org/educational_content

In the next few weeks, I need to get Tyler a report on our group's 
activities for the OSGeo annual report.

If you have Open Source GIS related educational content developed that 
you are willing to share, could you take a little time this week and 
inventory it using the INPUT form above? Thanks in advance.

I'll check in again later this week.

Cheers

Charlie Schweik


From cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu  Wed Feb 25 09:14:32 2009
From: cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu (Charlie Schweik)
Date: Wed Feb 25 09:14:31 2009
Subject: [OSGeo-Edu] New material in the OSGeo educational inventory search
	database
Message-ID: <49A55248.3050909@pubpol.umass.edu>

Hi OSGeo edu folks,

I just posted entries for the QGIS v.11 material we have developed on 
the new OSGeo educational inventory database system Tyler developed. See 
http://www.osgeo.org/educational_content. This actually took me only 
about 20 minutes to enter.

We now have 20 entries (thanks to all who did this!) in this database, 
but 46 entries in the old wiki inventory page:
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Educational_Content_Inventory.  I'd like to 
eventually decommision that, but we can't do that until the metadata for 
those 46 entries are ported over to the new system.

PLEASE:

1) If you have entries out on the old system, please take a moment to 
enter them into this new searchable database system.

2) If you have NEW material that you are willing to share, please enter 
it at
https://www.osgeo.org/node/add/edu-content

Thanks!

Charlie
From hmitaso at unity.ncsu.edu  Fri Feb 27 22:48:41 2009
From: hmitaso at unity.ncsu.edu (Helena Mitasova)
Date: Fri Feb 27 22:48:46 2009
Subject: [OSGeo-Edu] Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] experience using FOSS4G live-dvd in
	teaching FOSS GIS
In-Reply-To: <f902f9840902271916x35048459k2004eb277b68cb47@mail.gmail.com>
References: <f902f9840902271916x35048459k2004eb277b68cb47@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <0AA37D37-D5AA-4F57-80C8-19EED5A6F1E1@unity.ncsu.edu>

Maning,

I very much agree with what you have to say, especially about
introducing students to CLI. I teach a semester long course
on geospatial modeling and analysis with assignments in GRASS
and ArcGIS and eventually the students find out that they can run
the assignments and project in minutes from a text file - that is a  
big win
especially for the project when I ask them to recompute everything
because of some small mistake at the beginning.

Regarding the need for running the tutorials and courses with local data
I tried to start some initiative for building standardized data sets
for different locations that can be used with the same tutorial by  
preparing
a data set with generic names of map layers and a simple getting  
started tutorial -
see my post to OSGeo Edu below. Some people responded, but we don't
have any additional data sets yet. Maybe you can add few additional
layers to your data set, give them the same names as in the data set  
below
and try it out with the simple tutorial (I can add the imagery if  
needed)
and provide some feedback whether this would be feasible.
If the concept works, we can put the data sets on the osgeo web site  
(they are small)
and it would make preparation of tutorials and courses
for different locations worldwide much more efficient,

thanks a for sharing your experiences,

Helena

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
---------------------
Following some discussions with Venka and the suggestion on Wiki
about a need for local data sets for tutorials I have created the  
following
as a basis for an experiment:

1. scaled down, basics-only version of the NC data set with generic  
names
of map layers
2. getting started bare bone CLI  GRASS minitutorial for this data set.

It is here
http://grass.osgeo.org/sampledata/north_carolina/nc_basic_spm.tar.gz
or here
http://skagit.meas.ncsu.edu/~helena/grasswork/gisdemo_international.tarz

Now the experiment :
The objective is
- provide data sets for different regions with the same map layer names
so that the same tutorials can be run with data in Japan, Trento
or other location in US

I see the main trouble with the attribute names - but those can be  
changed
if there aren't too many, otherwise it may be worth to try the concept.

I will be happy to modify the data set  and of course the tutorial(s)  
can be
much nicer - GRASS wxpython GUI-based tutorial would be a nice test case
if we could provide it with data sets from all over the world.

So if you think it is worth it, please create small data sets for  
other locations
with the same names of map layers
that would run with the minitutorial to test the idea. I can then  
further modify
the data set to fit with the other ones so that we can create a  
working standard
that can be easily expanded to many areas in the world,

Helena




On Feb 27, 2009, at 10:16 PM, maning sambale wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I just want to share my experience teaching grass and qgis using the
> osgeo FOSS4G 2008 livedvd.
>
> I was invited by a non-profit organization to provide an overview of
> using FOSS Geo tools.  The organization provides mapping services to
> Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines through collaborative efforts
> like participatory mapping, resource mapping for asserting IP rights
> to resources and ancestral domain.  The participants are in-house
> geo-analysts coming from Indigenous Communities as well (note that the
> participants, have no formal GIS "schooling" and has no experience
> using FOSS Geo thus far).
>
> I provided several exercise using QGIS and GRASS (no offense to udig
> and gvsig, I don't use them hence, I can't teach them).  I didn't used
> the GRASS sample dataset, because I want local sample data for my
> exercise. My datasets are just a landsat image and a dem.  The
> exercises are as follows:
>
> Part 1  Open GRASS and QGIS - load vector and raster layers, saving
> project files
> Part 2  Editing GRASS vectors and rasters  (v.digit, r.contour,  
> r.shaded.relief)
> Part 3  Remote sensing based-classification (v.to.rast, i.group,
> i.gensigset, i.samp, r.reclass, r.report)
> Part 4  Map layout and visualization (QGIS map composer, NVIZ)
>
>
> The initial plan was to do everything GUI, but I had to move to grass
> terminal when we did the image classification because QGIS doesn't
> have the i.smap in the grass toolbox plugin.  Anyway, this provided me
> the opportunity to show the advantages of using the CLI.  At the end
> of the session, I showed them that by understanding CLI commands of
> grass, you can actually paste every command to a text file, run a bash
> script, implement all the exercise including map layout we did for 3
> hours, in just several seconds!  The reaction was: "Hey, I can do more
> work with GRASS while drinking my beer!"
>
> Reminds me of xkcd: http://xkcd.com/303/ ;-)
>
> The overall experience was good and I believe I was able to
> demonstrate FOSS Geo's power over the $25,000 esri stack they
> currently have (the DVDs I bought and distributed was just a little
> over $1!).
>
> Some thoughts (and requests) on improving my subsequent FOSS Geo  
> demos:
> 1.  I can't get the live-dvd running laptop to display to the LCD
> projector.  I had to use another windows laptop for the presentation
> and GRASS/QGIS demo.  Is there way to fix that in the live-dvd? Or is
> it the projector?
> 2.  If the live-dvd running laptop works on the lcd projector, I can't
> show my presentation slides because it has no openoffice impress
> (which is correct to strip down the size).  Is it possible for future
> release of the live-dvd to at least add a pdf reader?  This way I can
> convert my presentation slides to a pdf document and I won't be
> needing another machine for my slide presentation.
> 3.   It is best to use local datasets, participants can "relate" to
> the data better.  Although my sample data are just a landsat image and
> a dem, I was able to demonstrate how to produce several map layers
> with GRASS and QGIS (landcover, hillshading, contours, etc).
> 4.  Never underestimate the power of showing newbies the CLI.  I
> usually hide the CLI when introducing FOSS Geo to noobs for fear that
> they might be overwhelmed with the cryptic commands with no menus and
> icons to click-on.
>
> If others have some experience and tips in teaching FOSS Geo, please
> share them here.
>
> -- 
> cheers,
> maning
> ------------------------------------------------------
> "Freedom is still the most radical idea of all" -N.Branden
> wiki: http://esambale.wikispaces.com/
> blog: http://epsg4253.wordpress.com/
> ------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

From cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu  Sat Feb 28 07:27:59 2009
From: cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu (Charlie Schweik)
Date: Sat Feb 28 07:27:54 2009
Subject: [OSGeo-Edu] Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] experience using FOSS4G live-dvd in
 teaching FOSS GIS
In-Reply-To: <0AA37D37-D5AA-4F57-80C8-19EED5A6F1E1@unity.ncsu.edu>
References: <f902f9840902271916x35048459k2004eb277b68cb47@mail.gmail.com>
	<0AA37D37-D5AA-4F57-80C8-19EED5A6F1E1@unity.ncsu.edu>
Message-ID: <49A92DCF.5090502@pubpol.umass.edu>

Hi all,

Charlie Schweik here, who chairs the OSGeo education committee.

1) Maning: I encourage you (and others on this list) who are interested 
in education issues to subscribe to the OSGeo-edu list and also 
contribute content into our new searchable educational material 
database. See http://www.osgeo.org/education.

2) Regarding the local data issue. I'd like to see each OSGeo local 
group to appoint a representative to be on the OSGeo educational 
committee. It seems that the education group and local committees should 
be closely connected.

- One example would be to create locally-relevant data for tutorials.
- Another would be to help us convert educational material from one 
language to another.
- A third would be to make sure that any local educational material 
would have a better chance of being shared with the rest of the world 
(assuming the author is willing).

**I think the idea of connecting local grass-roots action with global 
open source/open content sharing is an extremely powerful  idea and 
could move OSGeo education ahead and a more rapid pace.**

If you are on a local OSGeo group, and not yet participating in the 
OSGeo education but willing to help, please contact me.

Thanks!

Charlie Schweik

Helena Mitasova wrote:
> Maning,
>
> I very much agree with what you have to say, especially about
> introducing students to CLI. I teach a semester long course
> on geospatial modeling and analysis with assignments in GRASS
> and ArcGIS and eventually the students find out that they can run
> the assignments and project in minutes from a text file - that is a 
> big win
> especially for the project when I ask them to recompute everything
> because of some small mistake at the beginning.
>
> Regarding the need for running the tutorials and courses with local data
> I tried to start some initiative for building standardized data sets
> for different locations that can be used with the same tutorial by 
> preparing
> a data set with generic names of map layers and a simple getting 
> started tutorial -
> see my post to OSGeo Edu below. Some people responded, but we don't
> have any additional data sets yet. Maybe you can add few additional
> layers to your data set, give them the same names as in the data set 
> below
> and try it out with the simple tutorial (I can add the imagery if needed)
> and provide some feedback whether this would be feasible.
> If the concept works, we can put the data sets on the osgeo web site 
> (they are small)
> and it would make preparation of tutorials and courses
> for different locations worldwide much more efficient,
>
> thanks a for sharing your experiences,
>
> Helena
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>
> Following some discussions with Venka and the suggestion on Wiki
> about a need for local data sets for tutorials I have created the 
> following
> as a basis for an experiment:
>
> 1. scaled down, basics-only version of the NC data set with generic names
> of map layers
> 2. getting started bare bone CLI  GRASS minitutorial for this data set.
>
> It is here
> http://grass.osgeo.org/sampledata/north_carolina/nc_basic_spm.tar.gz
> or here
> http://skagit.meas.ncsu.edu/~helena/grasswork/gisdemo_international.tarz
>
> Now the experiment :
> The objective is
> - provide data sets for different regions with the same map layer names
> so that the same tutorials can be run with data in Japan, Trento
> or other location in US
>
> I see the main trouble with the attribute names - but those can be 
> changed
> if there aren't too many, otherwise it may be worth to try the concept.
>
> I will be happy to modify the data set  and of course the tutorial(s) 
> can be
> much nicer - GRASS wxpython GUI-based tutorial would be a nice test case
> if we could provide it with data sets from all over the world.
>
> So if you think it is worth it, please create small data sets for 
> other locations
> with the same names of map layers
> that would run with the minitutorial to test the idea. I can then 
> further modify
> the data set to fit with the other ones so that we can create a 
> working standard
> that can be easily expanded to many areas in the world,
>
> Helena
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 27, 2009, at 10:16 PM, maning sambale wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I just want to share my experience teaching grass and qgis using the
>> osgeo FOSS4G 2008 livedvd.
>>
>> I was invited by a non-profit organization to provide an overview of
>> using FOSS Geo tools.  The organization provides mapping services to
>> Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines through collaborative efforts
>> like participatory mapping, resource mapping for asserting IP rights
>> to resources and ancestral domain.  The participants are in-house
>> geo-analysts coming from Indigenous Communities as well (note that the
>> participants, have no formal GIS "schooling" and has no experience
>> using FOSS Geo thus far).
>>
>> I provided several exercise using QGIS and GRASS (no offense to udig
>> and gvsig, I don't use them hence, I can't teach them).  I didn't used
>> the GRASS sample dataset, because I want local sample data for my
>> exercise. My datasets are just a landsat image and a dem.  The
>> exercises are as follows:
>>
>> Part 1  Open GRASS and QGIS - load vector and raster layers, saving
>> project files
>> Part 2  Editing GRASS vectors and rasters  (v.digit, r.contour, 
>> r.shaded.relief)
>> Part 3  Remote sensing based-classification (v.to.rast, i.group,
>> i.gensigset, i.samp, r.reclass, r.report)
>> Part 4  Map layout and visualization (QGIS map composer, NVIZ)
>>
>>
>> The initial plan was to do everything GUI, but I had to move to grass
>> terminal when we did the image classification because QGIS doesn't
>> have the i.smap in the grass toolbox plugin.  Anyway, this provided me
>> the opportunity to show the advantages of using the CLI.  At the end
>> of the session, I showed them that by understanding CLI commands of
>> grass, you can actually paste every command to a text file, run a bash
>> script, implement all the exercise including map layout we did for 3
>> hours, in just several seconds!  The reaction was: "Hey, I can do more
>> work with GRASS while drinking my beer!"
>>
>> Reminds me of xkcd: http://xkcd.com/303/ ;-)
>>
>> The overall experience was good and I believe I was able to
>> demonstrate FOSS Geo's power over the $25,000 esri stack they
>> currently have (the DVDs I bought and distributed was just a little
>> over $1!).
>>
>> Some thoughts (and requests) on improving my subsequent FOSS Geo demos:
>> 1.  I can't get the live-dvd running laptop to display to the LCD
>> projector.  I had to use another windows laptop for the presentation
>> and GRASS/QGIS demo.  Is there way to fix that in the live-dvd? Or is
>> it the projector?
>> 2.  If the live-dvd running laptop works on the lcd projector, I can't
>> show my presentation slides because it has no openoffice impress
>> (which is correct to strip down the size).  Is it possible for future
>> release of the live-dvd to at least add a pdf reader?  This way I can
>> convert my presentation slides to a pdf document and I won't be
>> needing another machine for my slide presentation.
>> 3.   It is best to use local datasets, participants can "relate" to
>> the data better.  Although my sample data are just a landsat image and
>> a dem, I was able to demonstrate how to produce several map layers
>> with GRASS and QGIS (landcover, hillshading, contours, etc).
>> 4.  Never underestimate the power of showing newbies the CLI.  I
>> usually hide the CLI when introducing FOSS Geo to noobs for fear that
>> they might be overwhelmed with the cryptic commands with no menus and
>> icons to click-on.
>>
>> If others have some experience and tips in teaching FOSS Geo, please
>> share them here.
>>
>> -- 
>> cheers,
>> maning
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>> "Freedom is still the most radical idea of all" -N.Branden
>> wiki: http://esambale.wikispaces.com/
>> blog: http://epsg4253.wordpress.com/
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>

From cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu  Sat Feb 28 07:41:44 2009
From: cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu (Charlie Schweik)
Date: Sat Feb 28 07:41:42 2009
Subject: [OSGeo-Edu] Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] experience using FOSS4G live-dvd in
 teaching FOSS GIS
In-Reply-To: <0AA37D37-D5AA-4F57-80C8-19EED5A6F1E1@unity.ncsu.edu>
References: <f902f9840902271916x35048459k2004eb277b68cb47@mail.gmail.com>
	<0AA37D37-D5AA-4F57-80C8-19EED5A6F1E1@unity.ncsu.edu>
Message-ID: <49A93108.5050407@pubpol.umass.edu>

One other follow-up comment to Maning's post:

Does the OSGeo data group have any inventory of data online that we 
should be linking to on the educational pages?

Or if not, should we consider using or developing an input form like 
what Tyler Mitchell developed for our educational material for the 
submission of legally-sharable local datasets? If this is done, it 
should absolutely be linked to the Educational initiative.

Thanks all-

Charlie

On Feb 27, 2009, at 10:16 PM, maning sambale wrote:
>>
>> the GRASS sample dataset, because I want local sample data for my
>> exercise. My datasets are just a landsat image and a dem.  The
>> exercises are as follows:
>>
>> Part 1  Open GRASS and QGIS - load vector and raster layers, saving
>> project files
>> Part 2  Editing GRASS vectors and rasters  (v.digit, r.contour, 
>> r.shaded.relief)
>> Part 3  Remote sensing based-classification (v.to.rast, i.group,
>> i.gensigset, i.samp, r.reclass, r.report)
>> Part 4  Map layout and visualization (QGIS map composer, NVIZ)

>>
>> The initial plan was to do everything GUI, but I had to move to grass
>> terminal when we did the image classification because QGIS doesn't
>> have the i.smap in the grass toolbox plugin.  Anyway, this provided me
>> the opportunity to show the advantages of using the CLI.  At the end
>> of the session, I showed them that by understanding CLI commands of
>> grass, you can actually paste every command to a text file, run a bash
>> script, implement all the exercise including map layout we did for 3
>> hours, in just several seconds!  The reaction was: "Hey, I can do more
>> work with GRASS while drinking my beer!"
>>
>> Reminds me of xkcd: http://xkcd.com/303/ ;-)
>>
>> The overall experience was good and I believe I was able to
>> demonstrate FOSS Geo's power over the $25,000 esri stack they
>> currently have (the DVDs I bought and distributed was just a little
>> over $1!).
>>
>> Some thoughts (and requests) on improving my subsequent FOSS Geo demos:
>> 1.  I can't get the live-dvd running laptop to display to the LCD
>> projector.  I had to use another windows laptop for the presentation
>> and GRASS/QGIS demo.  Is there way to fix that in the live-dvd? Or is
>> it the projector?
>> 2.  If the live-dvd running laptop works on the lcd projector, I can't
>> show my presentation slides because it has no openoffice impress
>> (which is correct to strip down the size).  Is it possible for future
>> release of the live-dvd to at least add a pdf reader?  This way I can
>> convert my presentation slides to a pdf document and I won't be
>> needing another machine for my slide presentation.
>> 3.   It is best to use local datasets, participants can "relate" to
>> the data better.  Although my sample data are just a landsat image and
>> a dem, I was able to demonstrate how to produce several map layers
>> with GRASS and QGIS (landcover, hillshading, contours, etc).
>> 4.  Never underestimate the power of showing newbies the CLI.  I
>> usually hide the CLI when introducing FOSS Geo to noobs for fear that
>> they might be overwhelmed with the cryptic commands with no menus and
>> icons to click-on.
>>
>> If others have some experience and tips in teaching FOSS Geo, please
>> share them here.
>>
>> -- 
>> cheers,
>> maning
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>> "Freedom is still the most radical idea of all" -N.Branden
>> wiki: http://esambale.wikispaces.com/
>> blog: http://epsg4253.wordpress.com/
>> ------------------------------------------------------
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>