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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hello everyone,<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">I think there are a lot of good and interesting ideas here.<span> </span>In terms of giving back, obviously the Certification
program is already set up so <span>that <span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);background:white">€</span>20 are</span> donated to QGIS for each
certificate, but there are more ways.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To let everyone know how Hans and I have been operating so far:<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We have established that if an organization isn’t one we are familiar
with (outside QGIS “<span>trust network”) they need to provide:<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 47.25pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Symbol;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span>·<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Course outline/syllabus<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 47.25pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Symbol;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span>·<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">An example exercise with sample
data and presentation<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 47.25pt;line-height:normal;background:white;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Symbol;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span>·<span style="font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Link to the course website (if
it exists)<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white;margin:0in 0in 8pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">We
also discussed that open data or an online MOOC should be encouraged and would
be a positive attribute for a new organization seeking approval.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white;margin:0in 0in 8pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">I
think the most important characteristics for a potential QGIS certifying
organization are: 1) being able to determine that an they represent QGIS
accurately, 2) have sound materials and 3) qualified instructors. I think we all want
the resulting certificates to mean something. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white;margin:0in 0in 8pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);background:white">Regarding
instructors: Currently the initial approval of the organization is the only
quality check in the system. Once certified, an organization can add new courses
and instructors. Perhaps when an organization adds new teachers we should have
them provide a bio or resume and have some criteria for approving them? I
realize it would add another layer to manage, but it would be a nice
additional quality check in the system going forward.</span><span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white;margin:0in 0in 8pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);background:white">Regarding
mandated contributions to the QGIS project: It certainly is a good opportunity
to not only get more contributions to the project, but to educate more of the
users about the myriad of ways they can contribute. I think 9 out of 10 users still don't know this. The "How you can contribute" is material
that should be included in all workshops/courses resulting in a QGIS
certificate. For educational institutions and professional educators, authoring
books and publishing open content should suffice. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white;margin:0in 0in 8pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);background:white">Regarding a
mandated curriculum: This is interesting and perhaps also a bit of a slippery
slope. Mainly because courses might range from a single day custom professional
workshop to full term/semester courses. <span> </span>Tim, I haven’t had time to really look at this
yet but I know you have put a lot of thought into it. It’s on my to do list. <span> </span>We
wrestled with a lot of these issues when we first designed the FOSS4G Academy
& Discover QGIS. A mandated curriculum obviously needs to be flexible enough
so that local data could be substituted. It also needs to be organized in such
a way that modules can be selected for use in a course. Another consideration
is how that curriculum would fit for more topical courses like one on UAV’s and
QGIS, ecological conservation and QGIS, hydrology and QGIS, public health, cartography,
modelling, LiDAR, parcel management….<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal;background:white;margin:0in 0in 8pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);background:white">Another reality
is that all of these issues mean more oversight and management by a small
team of volunteers. It will need to be built gradually and I like where we are
starting from. Thanks to Kartoza and Tim for building the platform! I like
where the discussion is going!</span><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span></span></span></p>
Cheers,<div>Kurt<br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p><span style="font-size:10pt">Kurt Menke, GISP</span><br></p><p><a href="http://www.birdseyeviewgis.com/" title="http://www.birdseyeviewgis.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:blue">www.BirdsEyeViewGIS.com</span></a></p>
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