[Qgis-user] Using QGIS for training courses

[Frank Sokolic]

For many years I have given training in GIS using proprietary software 
(mainly ArcGIS) but for a course I co-presented last week I decided to 
try FOSS GIS software instead. This was not only because we wanted a GIS 
that was intuitive and easy to learn but also because we wanted to give 
participants a copy of the software and training data to take home with 
them afterwards.

The course, GIS for Disaster Management, ran over five days at the 
University of the Free State in Bloemfontein and was presented entirely 
with Quantum GIS. The participants used QGIS to develop management plans 
for various possible disasters, e.g. campus shootings, bomb scares, 
chemical spills. They also used the GPS Tools plugin to download their 
GPS data straight into QGIS - things like evacuation routes, assembly 
areas, risk zones, etc. The great thing about using QGIS was that IT 
JUST WORKED and the participants were able to process and analyse all 
the data they collected. They also used QGIS to produce all the maps 
illustrating the disaster management plans they developed.

After having such a positive experience with Quantum GIS I'll certainly 
be using it again for future courses.

Frank.