[OSGeo Africa] Introduction to GIS & Remote Sensing short courses

[Tim Sutton]

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Hi

On 12/08/2014 10:57, Gerhardus Geldenhuis wrote:
> Hi Gretha, I don't think anyone missed the fact that you want to
> move to opensource and frankly just the fact that you are willing
> and considering it is a great win. However people in general are
> lazy and the reality of life is that the first software they
> encounter for a specific task will likely be their frame of
> reference for a long time to come. Not many people will actually
> actively investigate and try out alternatives. I used envi at
> university because that was what my lecturer used and even though
> I know that there is alternatives I have not really spend the time
> looking at them.
> 
> Some of the constraints you mentioned with regards to using
> opensource software would be very valuable feedback to the
> developers of the software and I am sure they would give attention
> to a well considered email detailing ways of improving the software
> to make it easier to start off with. I believe Tim Sutton lurks on
> the list and he is one of the key people at QGIS and even within
> driving distance for a meetup from your campus.

Yes indeed I am lurking here :-) I am somewhat pleased to see the
'industry relevant' argument hasn't been raised as a reason to promote
using ESRI products in the course. That same idiotic fallacy has
prevented at least one university open source GIS lab from coming into
existence in South Africa. As Gretha and others pointed out, what is
relevant to the industry is an understanding of spatial concepts,
models and analysis techniques, rather than rote learning a particular
software package.

The ESRI / Microsoft 'cheap / free' license model for students and
scholars is a cynical attempt at crack cocaine marketing - they know
when students enter the workplace they will request the brand they got
addicted to at their place of study - and then the vendors reap long
term benefits from their earlier 'subsidy'.

Anyway, I think it is great that Gretha is providing short courses and
developing skills in our industry (and letting us know about them on
this list). Gretha as a FOSS community we will be only too happy to
support any efforts you might make towards using FOSSGIS as the
platform for your courses rather than proprietary software. There are
many course materials and resources out there that can easily be
adapted to your cause.

Regards

Tim





> 
> Presenting a short course on different types of software could
> actually be something really useful. It would be great to get an
> unbiased academic opinion on the merits of various types of
> software and what they offer.
> 
> Regards
> 
> 
> On 12 August 2014 07:56, Gretha <gretha_g at sun.ac.za 
> <mailto:gretha_g at sun.ac.za>> <gretha_g at sun.ac.za 
> <mailto:gretha_g at sun.ac.za>> wrote:
> 
> Hi,____
> 
> Can I just clarify?  I’m not sure why everybody missed the first 
> bit, but I did say that we want to go Open Source, or at least 
> include some sections in which we use open source software :)____
> 
> We as a tertiary education institution focus our courses on the 
> basic theoretical principles of GIS and a generic understanding of 
> what GIS is. We do not aim to teach students just how to use 
> different types of software. These are not vendor generated
> courses focusing on teaching software skills. We do however
> demonstrate what is available in terms of different types of
> software, and I agree with the general opinion that we should
> incorporate that more on a practical level, which is why we want to
> add practical exercises done with open source software.____
> 
> There is also the practical problem that these are short courses, 
> and we have limited time in which to teach the basic theoretical 
> principles of GIS.  If we introduce to many types of software 
> students end up spending most of the  practical time on 
> familiarising themselves with the software instead of moving  on
> to the demonstration of concepts such as projection, the different
> data models, spatial query etc. ____
> 
> Maybe we should think about introducing a short course focussing
> on an introduction to the different types of software
> available….____
> 
> Regards,____
> 
> Gretha____
> 
> __ __
> 
> The integrity and confidentiality of this email is governed by
> these terms / Hierdie terme bepaal die integriteit en
> vertroulikheid van hierdie epos.
> http://www.sun.ac.za/emaildisclaimer
> 
> _______________________________________________ Africa mailing
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- Gerhardus Geldenhuis
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________ Africa mailing
> list Africa at lists.osgeo.org You can UNSUBSCRIBE at
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/africa
> 

- -- 
- ------------------------------------------------------

Tim Sutton
Visit http://kartoza.com to find out about open source:
 * Desktop GIS programming services
 * Geospatial web development
 * GIS Training
 * Consulting Services
Skype: timlinux Irc: timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net
Tim is a member of the QGIS Project Steering Committee
- ------------------------------------------------------
Kartoza is a merger between Linfiniti and Afrispatial
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