[Ica-osgeo-labs] Open GIS Academics and educators please apply to AAG call before June 15th, 2015

Thu Jun 11 08:25:05 PDT 2015

Suchith,

I think before it's begun it's not appropriate to assume that a proposed AP standard would say anything specific about software choices. In fact, as an educator in this field, I would strongly advocate instead for the development of a set of core competencies and course objectives that are software agnostic. How you reach those competencies would be up to teachers, then. A key part of this proposal development is that if it is successful it will strongly influence what "GIS 101" for lack of a better description will look like at Universities that want to accept these AP courses in lieu of an intro college class in all things geospatial, so I'd really like it if we were not pushed into doing specific software skills on our end at the university by virtue of what was included in the new AP standard. The 101 class I am developing at PSU will focus very little on software skills, in fact, because I think there's plenty to cover to get folks excited about mapping and spatial analysis before we dive into specific toolsets and their nuances. I don't think an intro class for non-majors is the place to drop a desktop GIS on anyone. At the same time, I wouldn't want someone else teaching to feel like they *couldn't* do that in their class.

So I would urge everyone involved to focus on core learning objectives that will be around in 10 or 20 years time, not to push hard on any specific technology which happens to be in or out of favor right now. If we were to have developed an AP course in 1999 with lots of specific technologies/software listed, it would be hilariously out of sync today with what we'd want anyone to learn. On the other hand, if we'd focus on core competencies (for example, students should be able to explain what projections do and choose an appropriate one for their map) it would probably be completely fine today since the fundamentals haven't actually changed. So I'd urge this community to think about what core competencies it thinks are important, and every time you name a specific software package or style, strike that out and write something that is a more general competency. This is the major challenge to overcome, in my view. There will also be far too many things to try and cover in one course, so it will be important to accept what is and is not possible to achieve in a single course targeted at complete novices.

What you are likely to find at the end of that exercise is that there is no need anywhere to mention any specific software vendor or type of software. And that should be a fine outcome, actually, because it means GeoForAll, for example, would have the chance then to demonstrate how those competencies are supported by current/future technology. It would also provide the chance for proprietary vendors to do the same. Educators then can choose what they want to use for their classes, at their institutions, at a given time.

Cheers,

-Anthony

Anthony C. Robinson, PhD 
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography 
Director for Online Geospatial Education, John A. Dutton e-Education Institute 
Assistant Director, GeoVISTA Center 
The Pennsylvania State University 
www.personal.psu.edu/acr181/

----- Original Message -----
From: "Suchith Anand" <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
To: discuss at lists.osgeo.org, ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2015 1:00:30 AM
Subject: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Open GIS Academics and educators please apply to AAG call before June 15th, 2015

Colleagues,

Last week , i send an open request to Dr. Michael Solem (AAG Director of Educational Research and Programs) to humbly request AAG to specifically include Open Education principles and FOSS4G tools firmly in the ConnnectED concept to support the new Advanced Placement course in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIS&T).

I am pleased to inform that Michael, has replied positively [1] and i have thanked him for this and  "Geo for All" who will be pleased to provide any specific inputs needed by the AP GIS&T proposal committees for this. We will keep closely following these developments and will contribute as and when needed.

I am requesting help from all of you as if we dont act now it will be a big loss for the empowerment of thousands of schools across USA and missed empowerment and geospatial innovation opportunities for a generation. Students instead of being developed as creative innovative minds and future innovators and job creators in geospatial will turn to be just mere users of a particular properitory GIS software. I think this is big moral question for educators and policy makers. The missed economic and innovation opportunities are too big to be quantified.Access to high quality education is everyone's birth right . It is not right  to just put properitory vendor interests in education.

May i request all of you who are able to contribute to please apply to AAG in response to thier proposals for Authors, Reviewers for thier new AP Course in GIS&T so we can make sure Open Source, Open Standards, Open Data in Geospatial Education is clearly inputted into this course and i request all colleagues to contribute for .

To apply for consideration as a proposal author and/or reviewer, please submit a short (250-word maximum) statement of interest and a current resume/CV to Dr. Michael Solem, AAG Director of Educational Research and Programs, at msolem [at] aag [dot] org by June 15, 2015. Proposal authors and reviewers will receive a stipend to support their work.

More details at http://news.aag.org/2015/05/aag-seeks-proposal-authors-reviewers-for-new-ap-course-in-gist/

When i read Randal Hale's email's on the difficulties faced by that high school in the US for properitory software updates [2], it was clear wake up call on the consequences if we let  properitory GIS agenda for schools and education go ahead. Also the point made by Margarita [3] on "The hidden cost, however, is the missed empowerment of a generation, that will most likely depend upon the software that they have learned to use at school.  "  is very important.

If the properitory vendor decides to withdraw or change the conditions of thier offer to schools now or at any stage in the future what will happen to the poor schools. This is my biggest worry. Basically schools will be at the mercy of the properitory vendor. The vendor can change thier mind any time.   The example Randal Hale gave  from one of the high schools in USA [2] is a real eye opener of the long term costs/sustainability issues of depending on properitory GIS software in education. Though his example was the issues and difficulties faced by that high school in the US for properitory GIS software updates , i think it is NOT a local problem. It is a wider education problem that as educators we need to be aware of. Luckily in Randal's example [2] this had a happy ending because he was kind enough to volunteer his time to install FOSS4G but more importantly imagine if there were no free and open source geo software from OSGeo Foundation for him to help the school.

Focus on just  properitory vendor GIS tools only in education  has long term consequences. Empowerment of academics and teachers  is important  to enable empowerment of students. This will make sure academics and teachers  will always have the advantage and they will not be at the mercy and dictates of any properitory GIS vendor. Education and empowerment of academics and students are key  for developing creative and open minds in students which is critical for building open innovation and contributes to building up Open Knowledge for the benefit of the whole society and for our future generations.

Thank you for your kind attention and support on this important matter.

Best wishes,

Suchith

[1] http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/ica-osgeo-labs/2015-June/001742.html [AAG Reply]
[2] http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2015-June/014310.html
[3] http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/ica-osgeo-labs/2015-June/001724.html

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