<P>Hi guys,</P>
<P>I don't know if my comments could help you about this subject but let me put some things I've tried about teaching mapserver.</P>
<P>In 2003 I had some experiences teaching MapServer to a small numbers of customers. I think I made it for 4 or 5 "students" before creating some basic materials about MapServer. In fact, this material had help me at the 1st Brazilian MapServer meeting 2004 that was made in Univali/Brazil. After that, in 2004 I used this same materials to:</P>
<P>- Brazilian Ministry of Health - 40 hours course for 30 students</P>
<P>- OmniLink - 16 hours course for 3 students</P>
<P>- DataTerra - 8hours , 2 students</P>
<P>- Escopo Geomarketing - 24hours, for just one folk.</P>
<P>For "in-house" course I can tell you that this material can be covered by 8hours.</P>
<P>Then, by the end of 2005 I tried another approach: to create an online MapServer course based on those materials I was using( Tyller Mitchell, André Cruvinel and Arthur Gil will remember so much I disturb them...sorry folks! :-). By that time, my initial goal was:</P>
<P>- to create a better material than I already had</P>
<P>- try to sell it for a small price(US$30) just to fund its development and improvement</P>
<P>And so I did it... In 2005/sept it was launched and after it 1st month all that I got was 10 subscribers....</P>
<P>MY main conclusions after that:</P>
<P>- it needed an English version( in portuguese only) to get more public and help on MapServer/F-GIS advertise</P>
<P>- today we have many more people interested on advanced MapServer features. There's a lot o people doing basic MapServer pretty well.</P>
<P>- people do not want to spend money if they can not see a solid and permanent institution( like a foundation) behind it</P>
<P>- they are lookin' 1st for knowledge and 2nd for a certification</P>
<P>- pre-requisites is need: there's a lot of people trying to MapServer without minimal gis or html/web concepts</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Then, in 2005/dec or 2006/jan ( i think) I decided ( thanks Tyller, André, Arthur and others again ) to publish it as a free online course and results came very quick: more than 150 subscribers after its announce.</P>
<P>My next step I was thinking is to translate it to english and keep it free or to yield it for a neutral institution like a foundation.</P>
<P>A portuguese description of this course can be seen at <A href="http://www.webmapit.com.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=72&Itemid=78&lang=pt_BR">http://www.webmapit.com.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=72&Itemid=78&lang=pt_BR</A> but you can also try to translate it using Google translation tools. </P>
<P>The course content covers MapServer history, features and pratical exercises. To try it out, a user register is needed - <A href="http://www.webmapit.com.br/newuser/">www.webmapit.com.br/newuser/</A></P>
<P>There goes my "quick" translation about this course:</P>
<P>-----</P>
<P><FONT face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><EM><STRONG><U>MapServer introduction</U></STRONG></EM></FONT></P>
<P><EM><FONT face=Arial><U>Description</U>: the main goal of this course is to provide the explanation of basic principles regarding webmapping application development and let the student to try his first steps with MapServer applications. <STRONG>NOTE</STRONG>: the course does not cover MapServer installation process ( try <A href="http://www.webmapit.com.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69&Itemid=65&lang=en">http://www.webmapit.com.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69&Itemid=65&lang=en</A> to do it )</FONT></EM></P>
<P><EM><FONT face=Arial><U>Requirements</U>: basic GIS and HTML/web concepts.</FONT></EM></P>
<P><EM><FONT face=Arial><U>Topics</U>:</FONT></EM></P>
<OL>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>What is webmapping</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>MapServer</FONT></EM></LI>
<OL>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>History</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Features</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Working modes ( CGI, MapScript, OGC's)</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>The structure of an application</FONT></EM></LI></OL>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Developing an application</FONT></EM></LI>
<OL>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>A basic map</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Adding a new layer</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Changing parameters on-the-fly</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Tematic maps</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Creating an user interface</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Using symbols</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Legend and scalebar</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Reference map</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Displaying labels</FONT></EM></LI>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Running queries</FONT></EM></LI></OL>
<LI><EM><FONT face=Arial>Aditional info.</FONT></EM></LI></OL>
<P>================================</P>
<P>Best regards,</P>
<P>Eduardo Patto Kanegae <BR>http://www.webmapit.com.br <BR><BR><BR><BR>On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 12:10:22 +0900, Venkatesh Raghavan <RAGHAVAN@MEDIA.OSAKA-CU.AC.JP>escreveu: <BR><BR>> De: Venkatesh Raghavan <RAGHAVAN@MEDIA.OSAKA-CU.AC.JP><BR>> Data: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 12:10:22 +0900 <BR>> Para: discuss@mail.osgeo.org <BR>> Assunto: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Certification commitee <BR>> <BR>> Dear All, <BR>> <BR>> I reproduce some of the points from our earlier discussion. <BR>> Hope they are of some use in the present context. <BR>> <BR>> a) What are the objectives of the courses? <BR>> The main focus would be on providing a solid foundation on Geoinformatics <BR>> technology using OSGEO tools as a means of enhancing learning. <BR>> <BR>> b) Who will be the actual customer? Is it the individual who pays for the course <BR>> or would it be the institution or organisation which would ultimately employ our <BR>> graduates? <BR>> We can think of regular and corporate sponsored. Also focus on tailor-made <BR>> courses. Direct marketing to potential clients would require lot of efforts. <BR>> Maybe we need to think of providing packaged educational solutions (franchising) <BR>> to institutions and universities. <BR>> <BR>> c) Which kind of institutions/companies would employ our graduates? <BR>> Geoinformatics industry, Government Institutions, NPO, NGO, Self-employed, <BR>> Geo-contents service providers etc. <BR>> <BR>> d) What would be the entry strategy? Will it be with high end courses or low end <BR>> courses – i.e. in terms of pricing, content, etc? <BR>> We have to see what is presently available and at what cost. Most of info <BR>> available from Google Search are summarized at <BR>> http://www.institute.redlands.edu/kemp/ certificates.html#Related. Details of <BR>> two institutions presently offering courses in India are <BR>> http://www.gisinstitute.net/ and http://www.symbiosissociety.org/sig/home.htm. <BR>> One example from Thailand is available at http://www.gac.ait.ac.th. Pricing info <BR>> at the above Asian sites could be a reference. <BR>> The course contents have to be decided after more discussions. I think the <BR>> course should be modular introduced in a phased manner 6-8 weeks <BR>> <BR>> Level 1: Introduction to GIS and Web Mapping Technologies <BR>> Basically how to install, use, producing maps using <BR>> OSGEO tools <BR>> Completion of this level will result in certification as “XXXYYY <BR>> Certified OSGEO Application User” <BR>> Level 2: Geo-spatial database development <BR>> Open data standards, Remote Sensing, GPS, mobile data logging systems, <BR>> RDBMS. Completion of this level could result in certification as “XXXYYY <BR>> Certified OSGEO Database Manager” <BR>> Level 3: Advanced Module for Application Developers <BR>> Spatial data analysis using GRASS, Web GIS application development,using <BR>> Mapserver Script languages, PHP, Javascript <BR>> Completion of this level could result in certification as “XXXYYY <BR>> Certified OSGEO Application Developer” <BR>> Level 4: Advanced Module for Software Developers <BR>> Developing Geoinformatics software and cross-platform GIS solutions <BR>> GRASS Libraries, Data Exchange Libraries, C programming, Cygwin, <BR>> Qt, Mingw, Plug-in development for QGIS. Software packaging (RPM etc.) <BR>> Completion of this level will result in certification as “XXXYYY <BR>> Certified Geoinfromatics Engineer” <BR>> <BR>> Option to get a Master degree after completion for 4 Levels and conducting <BR>> project research (in 16 to 18 weeks) could also be considered at a later stage. <BR>> <BR>> What kind of a market would the graduates have? <BR>> <BR>> institutional, private sector organizations, international. <BR>> Geoinformatics industry, Government Institutions, NPO, NGO, Self-employed , <BR>> Geo-contents service providers etc. <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- <BR>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: discuss-unsubscribe@mail.osgeo.org <BR>> For additional commands, e-mail: discuss-help@mail.osgeo.org <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> </P>