Chair for OSGeo Core Curriculum & Education project?

[Markus Neteler]

Hi Tyler,

[not sure of your mail reached the board list, it is below anyway]

The idea to make it a committee isn't that new (and a committee
needs a chair). Since March 14 I posted to you and others. While we
got eccelent ideas back, there wasn't much about leading the efforts
(maybe people expected me to chair, I don't know).
Then I approached two people personally in the last days but they declined,
then posted to the group. Ari answered, saying that he would not be
available, Puneet answered that he would be available.

In the beginning of the board meeting today I reported that I tried
to find a chair and that we had a volunteer so far. I asked if this
person was known and several participants of the meeting gave
positive feedback. I received also signals to go ahead with the
motion (or interpreted it at least as such). The motion was the last
agenda item, I didn't get any more comments so far (evening in
Europe meanwhile).

I accept that I should have posted the *explicite* call for chair
earlier. I also think that we should not be too hasty. But the
original project page is in place since 16 February 2006 with
the statement that a chair is needed.

So, open for further discussion!

Thanks for your valuable comment, Tyler.

Markus

On 3/24/06, Tyler Mitchell <tylermitchell at shaw.ca> wrote:
> Hi Markus and board,
>
> I'm confused as to why there has been such a rush to get a chair for the
> education project.  Your call for a volunteer came at 1:30am my time.  By the
> time I read my email at 8:30am, the choice was already made.  Ack!  In seven
> hours the call for a volunteer came and then someone was chosen by the board?
>
> It seemed, from the email, that the first person who volunteered was chosen
> without considering any others.  I think there was a good opportunity to draw
> in others who are already doing curriculum development and who have been
> actively participating in the project so far, but there was no time for the
> discussion or to show further interest.   Some of the people on the list
> weren't even awake yet! :)
>
> I'm not suggesting to go back on the decision, but it doesn't look like we are
> being very open to broader discussion/debate or very discriminating about who
> foundation officers are when things move so quickly.  From another angle, as
> a foundation member, it doesn't seem right to me that a non-member
> volunteered and was accepted before many of the other members could even
> consider the idea (I was just reading your email that came in while I was
> sleeping).
>
> I personally was not interested in the chair position, but didn't have a
> chance to volunteer regardless.  I would have liked to have discussed it with
> some of the others who have been actively engaging in the project so far and
> that I think would have been good candidates as well.  I'm not trying to
> criticise Puneet at all.  Though I don't know his experience/qualifications
> we should give him a chance.
>
> I hesitate to say anything because I don't want to be critical of your hard
> work, but I step out to mention this in hopes that these very important
> decisions and movements can be more transparent, fair and consistent.
>
> Hope this helps in some way, I don't mind discussing/debating this further if
> you would like.
>
> Talk to you later,
> Tyler
>
> On Friday 24 March 2006 01:36, you wrote:
> > Dear all,
> >
> > thanks, Perry. I have added a link to PubGeodata and also added
> > material licensing as issue.
> >
> > Today I would like to make the motion to establish the
> > project as official committee. For that I am seeking a person to
> > become chair of this committee.
> >
> > Volunteers, please either write to all or personally to me.
> >
> > best regards
> >
> >  Markus
> >
> > On 3/17/06, Pericles S. Nacionales <naci0002 at umn.edu> wrote:
> > > I appended the messages to the wiki, intending to edit them later.  But
> > > later came too soon. ;)  Here's hoping someone else can summarize the
> > > messages.
> > >
> > > -Perry
> > >
> > > On Thursday 16 March 2006 17:18, Markus Neteler wrote:
> > > > Dear All,
> > > >
> > > > I appreciate the fruitful discussion! If possible, I would kindly
> > > > request you to merge ideas into the wiki
> > > >
> > > >  http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Core_Curriculum_Project
> > > >
> > > > (editing is pretty easy, just create an account first - see on top of
> > > > the page).
> > > >
> > > > Tomorrow is the board meeting, we'll probably discuss the state of
> > > > the document there. It doesn't need to be polished, just somewhat
> > > > structured. The Wiki is just great for prototyping documents.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks
> > > >
> > > >  Markus
> > > >
> > > > On 3/16/06, Venkatesh Raghavan <raghavan at media.osaka-cu.ac.jp> wrote:
> > > > > Dear All,
> > > > >
> > > > > Discussed about possible revival of the Cyber Institute
> > > > > for GIS with David Hastings last week and am marking CC
> > > > > to him too.
> > > > >
> > > > > I think Curriculam, Education and Capacity Building initiatives
> > > > > related to OSGEO could be broken down to three (or more) phases
> > > > >
> > > > > Phase 1: Short term (six months)
> > > > >
> > > > > a) Assimilation of existing tutorial, lecture notes, training
> > > > >     documents, presentations that are available or could be made
> > > > >     available under Open Document or Creative Commons License.
> > > > > b) Discuss how Curriculum can be structured with existing resources.
> > > > >     Identify gaps for developing new material.
> > > > >
> > > > > Phase 2: Medium term (one year)
> > > > >
> > > > > a) Setup a e-learning portal (www.moodle.org) to manage existing
> > > > >     course material and obtain user feedback. Have been experimenting
> > > > >     with Moodle recently and we are trying to put together a online
> > > > >     training course based on some of the material that we developed
> > > > >     earlier. Could help with hosting a Moodle site if necessary
> > > > >     (http://wgrass.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/elearn/)
> > > > > b) Develop multi-media contents (animations, screen casting),
> > > > >     data set for tutorial etc to facilitate self-learning.
> > > > >
> > > > > Phase 3: Long term (two three years)
> > > > >
> > > > > a) Develop standardized mechanism for testing (question banks, quiz,
> > > > >     assignments etc). Moodle is quite good for this purpose
> > > > > b) Translation to local language and collection of datasets for
> > > > >     geographic locations some language locales. Working with datasets
> > > > >     that the candidate is familiar with can make learning easier.
> > > > > c) Initial review and improvement of contents and possible
> > > > > establishment of OSGEO Virtual University to cater to education,
> > > > > testing and certification of OSGEO Engineer.
> > > > >
> > > > > Venka
> > > > >
> > > > > P.S. David, please add some of your thoughts on this.
> > > > > I think that the views that you expressed in Bangkok
> > > > > very relevant and interesting.
> > > > >
> > > > > Helena Mitasova wrote:
> > > > > > On Mar 15, 2006, at 1:26 AM, Ari Jolma wrote:
> > > > > >> Charlie Schweik kirjoitti:
> > > > > >>> in the Department of Natural Resources Conservation. Right now I
> > > > > >>> have two part-time students helping me develop some tutorials on
> > > > > >>> Q-GIS.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> Gary Watry from FSU has prepared a 65 page Quantum GIS tutorial,
> > > > > >> which could be useful, at least duplicate work should be avoided.
> > > > > >> I got it from him directly, as far as I know it is not yet on the
> > > > > >> web.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> Concerning the curriculum and education project in general. I
> > > > > >> think we don't want to do something similar as NCGIA website,
> > > > > >> which, by the way, is not linked to any specific software as far
> > > > > >> as I see.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > My idea in that respect was to use it to outline what to teach in
> > > > > > different units (that is what NCGIA does) and then link to it a
> > > > > > material that shows how to do it in a specific software using
> > > > > > selected data. So for example we can have a unit on DEMs and
> > > > > > topographic analysis
> > > > > >  - the Curriculum will outline what is included under that unit and
> > > > > > that can then be linked to several materials:
> > > > > > - general theory including equations and algorithms (this can be
> > > > > > just a link to a relevant chapter in FreeGISBook)
> > > > > > - teaching material for use with GRASS
> > > > > > - teaching material for use with SAGA
> > > > > > - whatever else will people contribute to support this unit.
> > > > > > In this way we can minimize redundancy, cover number of different
> > > > > > software packages and it will have an additional
> > > > > > benefit that you can compare and see what would be the best for the
> > > > > > class - e.g. topoanalysis in one package
> > > > > > maybe more suited for natural resources students a different one
> > > > > > would be better for computer science.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >> I try to be inpartial in my teaching, which is often difficult in
> > > > > >> this field and may lead to confusion on the students part
> > > > > >> sometimes on software issues. I also try to teach theory as
> > > > > >> opposed to practical use of software. So I have problems trying to
> > > > > >> figure out what is it that we should produce. I think tutorials
> > > > > >> like Gary's are good. Another good idea could be complete worked
> > > > > >> out examples, which the students can re-do, perhaps on their own
> > > > > >> time (distance learning) or without too much tutoring in a
> > > > > >> computer classroom. I've done a few like that (for example
> > > > > >> non-point source modeling and travel time analysis) but they still
> > > > > >> need quite a lot of tutoring. One problem I have is that as the
> > > > > >> software develops so fast (and I've used mostly my own..) the
> > > > > >> procedure changes slightly from year to year.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> Using free tools in distance learning is really good because
> > > > > >> students can freely install their own copies of the software. On
> > > > > >> the other hand, for example my software is currently Linux-only,
> > > > > >> so it is not practical with many people. => There's a common
> > > > > >> interest with the OSGeo project creating installation packages.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> I'd like to have some sort of timetable and agreed ways of
> > > > > >> working: mostly email or mostly wiki?
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> Regards,
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> Ari
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> --Prof. Ari Jolma
> > > > > >> Kartografia ja Geoinformatiikka / Cartography and Geoinformatics
> > > > > >> Teknillinen Korkeakoulu / Helsinki University of Technology
> > > > > >> POBox 1200, 02015 TKK, Finland
> > > > > >> Email: ari.jolma at tkk.fi URL: http://www.tkk.fi/~jolma
> > >
> > > --
> > > Pericles S. Nacionales
> > > Conservation Biology Program
> > > University of Minnesota
> > > e-mail: naci0002 at umn.edu
> >