How did that get published in Forbes?

The Fact Sheet

In 2018 URISA published a Fact Sheet about open source GIS. One sentence in the sheet reads:

Forbes magazine publishes articles encouraging corporate managers to involve their staff members in open source development, and highlighting the advantages of open source.

The sentence includes links to two articles. Shweta Saraf 's article is titled Why Your Engineers Should Spend More Time Writing Open Source Software Code. Laurence Bradford's piece is How Open-Source Development Is Democratizing The Tech Industry. That's what prompted the question in the title and two others:

• Does Forbes endorse open source software via these articles? 
• Does the fact that these articles are published on Forbes.com give them authority?  

Fox Buys 73% of National Geographic: End of the World?

21 Century Fox did What?

Exactly what did Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox do? NPR reports:

In a $725 million deal, the 127-year-old National Geographic magazine is leaving behind its nonprofit status and becoming a key piece of a new venture between its parent organization and 21st Century Fox.

Fox is Already in National Geographic

If you've not kept up on cable TV deals, 21st Century Fox already owns about that much of National Geographic TV. That deal went down 18 years ago. The channel currently reaches 500 million homes worldwide.

Getting a Job and/or Being Happy

Lots of Geo Career Advice

It's been a great time for job advice in the geospatial community. Many of the recent posts at GeoHipster focus on career care and feeding. One interviewee, Thierry Gregorius, went so far as to offer even more details about the GIS career path. James Fee tells techies what languages are hot. Nathan Heazlewood explains how to Plan your GIS Career on LinkedIn. And, over on Reddit/GIS there are career and education questions patiently answered nearly every day. I've written and podcasted about job skills and job hunting over the years (1, 2).

What we tend to talk about less is being happy with the jobs we ultimately select. The luckiest among us are happy during most of our working lives. I consider myself one of those people. I wish I could say that was by design, but it's not. It's a bit of luck and bit of learning along the way.

The Doing of Learning

This has been gnawing at me for about two weeks. In a webinar for UCGIS Alex Klippel of Penn State discussed his hybrid course on spatial analysis. I'd have called it a flipped class: students learned R online via Lynda and came to class to … well, not have a lecture. One of the biggest challenges for Klippel, and I appreciate his candor, was finding things for students to while they were in the classroom together! He knew he didn't want to lecture, but what sorts of exercises and activities would move the learning forward? How would they be implemented? I'm not aware of a repository of hands on spatial analysis activities for college students. If educators are moving toward flipping/hybrid geography and GIS courses (see also Peter August's work), perhaps we need one.

Klippel may be typical of today's college educators. We learned and taught using the old lecture method. The "sage on the stage" speaks, students listen, students read and perhaps do homework problems, and then there's a test. The good news is that the best of the K-12 and college educators are fighting that trend. They preach active learning, group learning, problem, project and inquiry based learning, genius hours and other techniques to have students "do" rater than passively sit (see this scary real life story of high school students).

I think geography and GIS education (among other areas) are at a turning point. We need to look even harder at this "doing" part of geography. We need to think through the best use of the time educators  spend face to face with students and the time students spend face to face with one another.

This was driven home to me in the past year or two by a guest conductor of the Concord Band. I wish I recall who it was, and I'm sure I've heard the idea before, but somehow it hit home that evening as I sat in the third clarinet section.

The two hours my band rehearses together each week, he noted, is short and very special. It's probably far shorter than the time most of us practice during the week. And, it means it must be used to its highest potential. We need to use it to be better as a group. Thus, we should not be learning our individual parts during rehearsal, but rather, learning how our individual parts integrate with the other parts. We shouldn't be working on our individual intonation (playing in tune) but rather adjusting our intonation to match our section and the entire ensemble.

I'd realized some time ago that the best part of band rehearsal (and the subsequent concert) was when I finally fit my bit in with the rest of the ensemble. The only time I could even try it was at rehearsal. So, I'd often work up just a few tough measures with the goal of attempting to fit them in at the next rehearsal. Sometimes it took a few tries across a few rehearsals. I secretly hoped the director would run that part a few times and I sometimes requested just that.  No matter how long it took, it was so exciting to "get it." I have been known to trust my arm in the air and say "Yes!"

Back to the classroom. A classroom experience should be just like band rehearsal. Each student would be preparing their homework (watching a video, building a data table, learning a skill) with the idea that they'd put it to work during that special time with their peers and instructor. While they might not have a "Yes!" moment at each meeting, they should know that was the goal toward which to strive.

Creating experiences that prompt that kind of cooperative learning is tough. There are many hands on exercises for younger students in geography. There are the classic puzzles that fit the shapes of the states together, the huge maps that lay on the floor, and the like. I even took a paper and pencil college exercise from PSU's Geography 20 (thanks Roger) about bus routing to a group of middle schoolers with great success. But now we need to bring the fun (and learning) of those techniques to high school and college, and frankly, to our (super dull PowerPoint driven) conferences.

My challenge to educators and those creating content for geography and GIS courses and conference presentations:

- Make fewer videos of how to run a buffer in ArcGIS and instead think about how to best use time in class when students and instructors are together

- Don't do a PowerPoint or give a demo at the next conference; have the attendees DO something to learn what you hope to teach. If you want to do a PowerPoint or a demo, put it out on the Web, you'll have a larger audience.

- Think hard about what can only (or best) be done face to face and save that for class. Everything else can be (and perhaps should be?) done in some form via the Internet.

Gamification of GIS and GIS Use in Gaming

American Sentinel University offers some of the most creative press releases to market its GIS degrees. In August it published this one: Gamification of GIS Offers Career Boost for Geospatial Professionals. I was expecting to read about the gamification of GIS and wondering which examples would be used. I would have selected Foursquare or Waze if I wrote the release.

But the release was about something different. It noted:

The gaming industry is relying on GIS for real-world datasets, which increases the need for trained GIS professionals.

That's true. But it's not gamification. Wikipedia defines it this way:

Gamification is the use of game thinking and game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems.[1][2][3] Gamification has been studied and applied in several domains, with some of the main purposes being to engage (improve user engagement, [4] physical exercise, [5] return on investment, flow, [6] data quality, timeliness), teach (in classrooms, the public or at work[7]), entertain (enjoyment, [6] fan loyalty), measure (for recruiting and employee evaluation), and to improve the perceived ease of use of information systems.[6][8] A review of research on gamification shows that most studies on gamification find positive effects from gamification.[9]

Foursquare used game ideas to encourage users to collect badges and become "mayors" of locations. Mayors sometimes received free drinks or other perks when they visited their kingdoms (bars, restaurants, entertainment venues). In its latest incarnation, foursquare is encouraging different behaviors through gamification, as it encourages users to become "experts."

Waze encouraged drivers to help gather data in less travelled areas by visiting areas that offer "points" in a Pac-Man style game.

I consider Edit-a-thons and more formal games to capture geospaital data via crowdsourcing gamification, too, since they encourage competition. See for example the gamification wikipage for OpenStreetMap.

What American Sentinel University wanted to highlight, I believe, is the potential for good jobs for GIS professional in the video game and marketplace. The use of real world data in such games dates back some years. Here's a 2001 press release from ERDAS touting Microsoft's use of its software. I recall hearing a presentation in 2009 from the team member behind Microsoft's Flight Simulator. He explained how the company used real data in some areas and "faked it" in others. The big limitation in those days? Getting all the data onto the CDs and DVDs! Today, imagery and real world maps are part of virtual reality and augmented reality games and experiences.

There is great potential for both the gamification of GIS and the use of GIS data in games. Just be sure you know the difference!

A Geographer Looks at EdTech in 2013 - Part 4 - MOOCs

--- This post is the fourth in a ten part series examining top 2013 trends in education technology in the context of GIS and geography education. ---

Watters identifies MOOCs as her fourth theme in education technology for 2013. Watters has followed the ups and many downs of the new teaching and learning paradigm through the year. She argues that if 2012 was the year of the MOOC, 2013 was the year for a bit of backlash or reality check. The most recent "turn" from the MOOC: Sebastian Thrun's Udacity is pivoting from free academic education to focus on corporate training.

In this post however, the focus is on geography and GIS MOOCs. In our world 2013 was the year of the MOOC.

Year of the Geography/GIS MOOC

I've covered, in some detail, the four geography/GIS MOOCs that I found in 2013:

• Google Announces a Mapping MOOC: Mapping with Google - All Points Blog
• Professional Development MOOC on STEMx and Geospatial Coming This Summer - All Points Blog
• Maps and the Geospatial Revolution (Directions Magazine interviews and more) 
• Pace University Faculty Member Prepares "GIS 101" MOOC - Directions Magazine

That's a nice mix of course providers (public university, large public company, an edu team with a grant from HP, private university) and a variety of platforms (Google's own, Instructure Canvas, Coursera, Blackboard CourseSites) and a variety of sizes (tens of thousands, hundreds, tens of thousands, hundreds).

What's the status now of these and other MOOCs?
Google has not indicated it will rerun its course. While the course was well-liked (review by my colleague at Directions who took it), there was much frustration shared by those who could not download their certificate of completion. Apparently, it was only available for a two week period, then disappeared.

The STEMx MOOC was run for a second time this fall. I've not been able to connect with the writer/instructor. I did catch him before the original session launched. I think there is a lot of potential for MOOCs as professional development. I even suggested one on teaching small ensembles to the assistant music director of my band who also needs continuing ed credit for his "real job" in a public school.

Penn State's Maps and the Geospatial Revolution will be run again in spring 2014. Despite demand for an "advanced" course on the topic, to date creator and instructor Anthony Robinson has stated he will not offer such a course.

The Pace University GIS Basics course is just winding down during the week of Dec 2.

There were a few other courses that tapped into or mentioned geography and GIS in 2013 and 2014. I found, for example:

• Sustainability, society and you (FutureLearn) (Jan 2014) 
• Cultural Geography of the World (edX) (Sept 2013) 
• Water: The Essential Resource (National Geographic) (Oct 2013) 
• Flow (National Geographic) (2014) 

There are a few rumors about other MOOCs and one was just announced today.

Why Geography and GIS MOOCs are Special
The best attended MOOCs are about computer programming, electronics and business, best I can tell. Why? Part of it has to do with the supply of such courses, but part I think too has to do with individuals collecting skills. Many look to a MOOC as tool to get a, or get a better, job. Further, MOOC learners, most of who have bachelor's degrees already, know of these disciplines and their promise of good high paying jobs.

Geography and GIS? Well, not so much. While we may know these are in demand jobs, most of the world is not aware that such jobs even exist, let alone what geography is or what geographers do. Despite our best efforts, few know of the current or future demand for those with geospatial skills. Geospatial MOOCs, as we discussed at some length at a session at the Esri Education Unconference, are about marketing our field, among other things. If that turns into more students paying for courses at community and four colleges and for graduate degrees and certificates, all the better. If, that in turn means filling all those empty seats at NGA and variety of retail stores, again all the better.

What GIS People Need to Know about MOOCs

Last month (Sept 2013) at the GIS-Pro Conference in Providence, RI I gave a lightning talk (five minutes, 20 slides that advance every 15 seconds). The goal was to provide those in the geospatial industry an overview what they needed to know about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). I thought it went great and URISA videotaped it and published it on YouTube. It's below.

You can find all the talks (well, except one) on this channel.

Early Feedback on Geo-MOOC

On Feb 21 Penn State announced it would be working with Coursera to offer Massive Open Online Classes (MOOCs). Among the first five courses is what I and others believe is the first planned geography/mapping related MOOC, Maps and the Geospatial Revolution. As is typical of the whole MOOC movement, there was a lot of excitement and response, even though the course is barely outlined and won't be live for its five week run until July of this year.

Here are some of the responses, all from industry insiders, that gave me pause.

‏@RIGEA1 wrote:

Want to learn #GIS but not sure where to start? This free MOOC "Maps & the Geospatial Revolution" is for you!

The course webpage uses the term geographic information system just once; it certainly does not promise that students will learn GIS. It does say they will make maps.

@SkipCody wrote:

I am excited to attend! ...

Both the intro video and webpage text make clear this course is not for geogeeks. The webpage includes: "If you're already a Geospatial Guru, then you might find this work a bit basic, in which case I hope you'll consider taking the online courses that we offer at Penn State." The tweet author is a "Product Manager for a SaaS GIS Company."

Some MOOCs have been overrun by "experts," making me wonder about the experience of the real newbies. See for example stats shared here in section titled "students" describing a machine language MOOC at Stanford.

Among 14,045 students in the Machine Learning course who responded to a demographic survey, half were professionals who currently held jobs in the tech industry. The largest chunk, 41 percent, said they were professionals currently working in the software industry; another 9 percent said they were professionals working in non-software areas of the computing and information technology industries.

Of course, when a course is free, it's hard to dissuade interest, and I'm not sure any company, educational institution or instructor would want to do so. Hopefully this sort of interest by experts will die down as the MOOC concept is more familiar to all.

@jodygarnett wrote:

... better cover open source?

While I'm sure it's possible to run a five week course that uses, or covers, open source GIS, I don't believe that's the goal for this very first Geo-MOOC.

@SS_Rebelious wrote:

finally a GIS course! But unfortunately ESRI's software will be used(((

The course will use ArcGIS Online. Could it use something else? Sure. Will it really matter what software the students use for a five week course if the goal is exploring mapping and geospatial technology and making a map? As an educator, I think not. Equally importantly, I think think Penn State pushing ArcGIS Online in this way is a good thing.

All of these comments are from people inside the geospatial industry. What will be far more interesting will be the comments from students outside geography and GIS after they take the course.

Do you want to use online GIS with your students?

The title comes from a tweet from an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher. The whole tweet reads:

Do you want to use online GIS with your students? @EsriCanada has extensive resources. http://bit.ly/VvLiQ4 Start with Map My Community.

While I think the goal is to point out the valuable resources at the website, I'm more interested in the question posed, ideally to educators, "Do you want to use online GIS with your students?" The tweeter used to teach geography and finds GIS and GPS interesting, so the question seems quite natural.

And yet that question causes me some discomfort. While I'm a fan of GIS and GPS, as an educator, I've been trained to lay out, or learn of, existing educational objectives (what the students will learn to do) before determining the form of the course or the tools to be used.

I recall a similar discomfort when meeting one of the geography textbook publishers at a conference. He assured me his text was the best for my World Regional Geography course at the community college. The problem was, in my version of that course, there was no text, just an atlas.

While I'm hopeful more and more students will be able to take a dedicated geography course in their K-16 experience, I believe most will only "run into" geography and its related technology in small "injections" along the way. John Caris at Smith College and  Sharron Macklin at Williams College take that approach in their small liberal arts colleges. David DiBiase, of Esri presented a vision for that sort of "injection" at in a presi titled Spatial Thinking Across the Curriculum at the Specialist Meeting on Spatial Thinking Across the Curriculum, Santa Barbara CA, December 10-11, 2012. I think as geographers we need to think about a geography curriculum that addresses both those taking a dedicated course or degree, and one that injects key ideas across a broader liberal arts or engineering program.

How would I rephrase the question for the latter vision? Here's a starting point:

Do you want to ...

• practice critical thinking
• develop spatial literacy skills
• explore visual communications
• evaluate Web data resources
• learn to use Web services
• consider epidemiological spread of disease

with your students?

The answer? Then you might want to consider teaching with GIS!

Takeaways: Conference on GIS & Spatial Thinking in the Undergraduate Curriculum

Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, PA hosted a two day conference on GIS & Spatial Thinking in the Undergraduate Curriculum this past weekend. Here’s the full schedule.

Below are my takeaways:

Make it a point to talk to your aunt at Thanksgiving. One graduating senior at Bucknell had a conversation with his aunt at a family gathering. When she learned he was studying GIS, she noted that her company, Lockheed Martin, did that. She helped him get an internship and he has a job lined up for when he graduates this spring. (I think he’s pretty sharp, too.)

I was surprised so few of the educators were aware of PLOTS and other DIY remote sensing efforts. I’m learning that like GIS professionals, GIS and geography educators are very “heads down.” Jeremy Crampton of the University of Kentucky gave the evening keynote and highlighted the U.S. government’s geospatial intelligence efforts, use of public information to gather information about spatial patterns (Twitter), and DIY data capture via balloons and drones.

There was a recurring theme regarding how early to engage undergraduate students in GIS. Several educators noted that in the past seniors literally learned it as they were heading out the door, leaving limited resources on campus. There are efforts at some schools to leave up to half the seats in some intro GIS courses for freshman and sophomores.

Diana Sinton, University of Redlands, gives one of three keynotes.

A comment about faculty and staff “checking your ego” came up in at least two presentations. Anne Kelly Knowles of Middlebury College recapped her research on the history of iron in the U.S. and her work with a multidisciplinary team studying the geography of the Holocaust. Regarding the latter she noted that once the team got over trying to impress one another and just listened to one another, far more interesting ideas appeared. She didn’t explicitly note it, but I suspect checking one's ego when working with undergraduates in research, which she does, helps put them at ease and be more creative, too. Diana Sinton of the University of Redlands noted "checking the ego" was valuable when faculty/staff and students learn together. Redlands Ithaca College faculty are allowed to take once class per semester and having them do alongside undergraduate GIS students requires checking the ego.

There are a variety of grants from federal sources, foundations, and even the schools themselves to support GIS education explorations. Among those mentioned were funds available for study of the digital humanities, hybrid learning and local natural areas. Few presenters cited “huge” grants, but many seemed very satisfied with just a few thousand dollars. It’s worth keeping an eye out for a variety of sources. Moreover, as one presenter noted, just having another organization acknowledge the value of the work can help reinforce the value of GIS, or an educational technique, on campus.

Jeremy Donald, Trinity University and Mike Winiski, Furman University used Kolb’s concept of the the Learning Cycle (new to me) to help determine which parts of a GIS course should be done in class and which as homework. 

• concrete experience (or “DO”)

• reflective observation (or “OBSERVE”)

• abstract conceptualization (or “THINK”)

• active experimentation (or “PLAN”)

They choose to assign the first two for “homework” and the second two as in-class activities. There was some discussion in presentations and during the networking time about how to draw these lines and how to motivate students who may blow off “homework.” Robert Beutner of Hobart and William Smith Colleges shared that his GIS class was completely flipped: concepts and readings were explored for homework and class time is 100% hands on. That's something I've wanted to try for quite some time.

Service learning, despite its extra challenges for faculty (finding clients, managing expectations of both student and client, keeping students on task and moving toward the deliverable) and students (frustration, team management, limited class time) yields huge rewards. Both groups see the value, but not necessarily while they are sweating out the details.

More and more schools, especially small liberal arts schools, seem to be getting the message that GIS must be in their students’ toolboxes. Institutions are hiring staff to infuse GIS across the curriculum. Some schools, like Bucknell, seem to created enough interest and demand with one or more GIS courses, before hiring such a professional. That, however is but one model of how to grow GIS and spatial thinking across a campus. I suspect in a few years there will be a best practices document detailing all of the options and how to pick the best one for different kinds of schools. I met several educators who'd like to read it now.

A Look at American Sentinel University’s New Geospatial Information Systems Graduate Certificate and Masters Degree

During the last week in September American Sentinel University announced two new online graduate offerings: a five course Geospatial Information Systems Graduate Certificate and a 12 course Master of Geospatial Information Systems. The school has offered a B.S. and A.S. in Geographic Information Systems since 2006.  Do note that the undergraduate degrees are in Geographic Information Systems and the graduate credentials are in Geospatial Information Systems. I asked the school about the difference and heard back from the GIS Program Chair, Dr. Stephen McElroy:

Although GIS is the principal geospatial technology, it is only one of the broader sets of tools available. Other geospatial technologies include GPS, airborne and satellite remote sensing, terrestrial lidar, close-range photogrammetry, virtual visualization, statistical-based analysis and modeling. We chose the term “geospatial” to represent our programs because it embraces this broader set of tools and techniques.

Geospatial Information Systems Graduate Certificate 

The graduate certificate, like most offered by other schools, is aimed at individuals who have a bachelors degree and are looking for a structured basic program in GIS. The school notes the program can be completed in between six and 12 months. Each of the five courses takes eight weeks. The tuition (no fees, books, etc.) totals $6,300.

I was pleased to see that the school details the learning objectives. Graduates of the graduate certificate will be able to:

• Develop an understanding of geospatial principles and practices.
• Develop a working knowledge of ArcGIS and other GIS related tools used in developing and implementing geospatial strategies.
• Collect, store, access and use geospatial data across multiple disciplines.
• Develop an enterprise-level geospatial strategy.
• Understand the ethical and legal issues associated with the use of geospatial data.
• Understand similarities and differences in geospatial strategies between specific disciplines. 
• Present geospatial information in a clear and professional manner.
• Present their ePortfolio as evidence of academic achievement.

Also noteworthy is the school’s statement of its unique approach:

Unlike many GIS certificates, American Sentinel’s graduate certificate does not focus solely on the technology and software behind GIS. Our cross-disciplinary program is ideal for individuals who seek the analytical skills needed to incorporate geospatial tools and strategies into the modern-day working environment and enhance critical decision making and problem solving.

Master of Geospatial Information Systems

The masters degree requires a bachelors degree and the core 12 courses run $15,120 (tuition only). The program has two paths to completion. One, the course track, is more course focused, while the other, the project track, centers around a workplace project.Those who select the course track will take “electives that provide experience across the major geospatial industry categories as defined by Esri.”  Those are listed elsewhere as health care, business, government, defense and public safety, and environment and natural resources. Esri's list of industries is far longer.

Those who select the project option must follow the Esri Professional Services Framework (detailed on the Esri professional service page):

• Strategy and planning 
• Requirements analysis
• Design Development Deployment Operations and maintenance.

The school lists four items in its program that are unique:

• Project track (described above)
• Application across industries (described above)
• ArcGIS (site license) 
• Geospatial Learning Lab – “provides access to a geospatial community, Esri educational materials, tutorials, online GIS resources and more. Students completing activities with the Geospatial Learning Lab can receive competency-based badges to add to their ePortfolio.”

I requested more information about the Learning Lab. Dr. Stephen McElroy responded:

The online learning lab is similar to a learning commons. It is an area that brings together resources and materials in a way that facilitates the development of an active learning community. This resources will be deployed for internal use by American Sentinel students. The competency-based badges will be developed by our Academics team.

The learning objectives for the masters degree are the same as for the certificate expect that

• Understand similarities and differences in geospatial strategies between specific disciplines.

is replaced with:

• Design, develop and complete a GIS project. Depending on the program track chosen (course or project), this project may be in-depth or more limited in scope, based on the student’s project design and objectives.

Does Esri Going OER with its Ed Materials Matter?

I was pleased to see Esri make a formal statement about its commitment to open licensing of educational (not training) materials developed by its Ed Team. The company is retaining copyright, but offering ways to use and recast the content via a Creative Commons license. (If that doesn’t make sense, I recommend this short video that helps explain how copyright and Creative Commons licensing work together.) The move didn’t surprise me since it’s something Esri Director of Education David DiBiase championed during his tenure at Penn State.

The announcement got me thinking about how and frankly if OER geography resources are being used and/or re-used. I can’t say for sure that any material from my two OER courses at Penn State has been explicitly used, but I’ve seen evidence that suggests it has.

DiBiase and his Penn State colleagues put together what I consider a quite comprehensive text book for the first course in Penn State’s GIS Certificate program. It’s called the Nature of Geographic Information and it’s been available under an open license for years. I went looking on the Web to see if any educators use it in their online or residence teaching. I found references from the University of Massachusetts and Princeton. I can’t say outside of the Penn State community I’ve ever spoken to an educator who used it. I know only a subset of educators seek existing OER resources or consider building their own. I still see online conversations among educators trying to identify the best textbook for GIS from the commercial publishers. I'm not sure I've seen a discussion that included OER materials.

What are the implications of Penn State and Esri’s efforts to open up their educational resources? The question is timely in part because Audrey Watters, the education writer, is just beginning a project to explore OER content. Her first post on topic appeared last week on her Hack Education blog. (She’s prolific and I confess that I keep up by listening to her weekly podcast.)

Watters shared her takeaways, after looking at the types of OER content available at OER Commons:

It isn't just that the topics skew STEM. It's the dearth of primary-level materials. It's the amount of test-prep (often AP-test-prep) content. It's the preponderance of PDFs. And even with somewhat clearer language regarding licensing ("no strings attached" and "read the fine print" as opposed to Creative Commons' terminology), the continuing confusion surrounding copyright affordances for classroom usage.

First I want to tackle the dearth of primary-leve materials. Esri’s Educational Advisory Board identified the opposite in its review of the companies ArcLessons. (Disclosure: I’m on that Board.) The consensus was more intermediate and advanced material was needed. I for one see intro GIS material popping up all over the place. The latest source to cross my desk: Step-by-Step from the Scholars Lab. (I do want to point out that these lessons are peer reviewed, something that is not true of all open lessons. They are also available under and open license.) Does the geospatial/GIS education community really need more tutorials about how to geocode spreadsheets? I’m not sure. If we do, is it because there are not enough OER materials? Or did the Scholars Lab lesson appear because educators wanted a peer reviewed resource? Or for some other reason?

Next, I want to consider the PDF issue Watters notes. Esri offers quite a lot of material in PDF, though that did not come up in the advisory board discussions, best I can recall. I do see complaints from those trying to use raw data presented in PDF to make maps and we in the media (I work for an online geospatial publication) complain about press releases delivered in this form. For those who don’t use PDF much or don’t think about its limitations: the format was designed to make documents look pretty across platforms, not make their contents usable. Use of PDF in my mind pretty much flies in the face of the OER re-use/re-mix vision.

Now back to my initial question: What are the implications of Penn State and Esri’s efforts to open up their educational resources for geography/GIS education? My gut says it’s a good idea and probably “the right thing to do.” Further, I expect virtually all educators would vote in favor of such licensing. I'm not sure how many would open up their own work to such licensing. But those observations beg the question: Do geography/GIS educators know about or currently use OER materials that are already available?

I return to the question because of a well-told story of a focus group some years ago discussing MP3 players. When asked if they’d prefer a pink one or a black one, nearly all the panelists said “pink.” At the door, on the way out after the session, was a table full of pink and black devices. Attendees were invited to take one home as part of their compensation. They all took black ones. (Note: My pink 2nd gen iPod shuffle is giving me the eye just now...)

I plan to return to this topic of OER geospatial/GIS materials in the coming days and weeks.

Central Pennsylvania Geospatial Technology Center to Support Experiential GIS Learning

Back in June Gannett Fleming announced a new organization to provide central Pennsylvania college/post college GIS students with hands on work experience (press release). The Central Pennsylvania Geospatial Technology Center (GTC) is a joint effort of the company with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC). Per the press release:

Students, faculty, and professionals from the three organizations will offer their expertise and resources to geospatial technology projects for the public. The partnership will focus on providing substantive and practical knowledge for students, while providing valuable services for the greater central Pennsylvania area.

First off, who are these players? These blurbs come from the organizations' "about" page save the one from HACC, which has no such page. The blurb is from that school's employment page.

Gannett Fleming is a global infrastructure firm that provides planning, design, technology, and construction management services for a diverse range of markets and disciplines. With 2,000 highly qualified individuals across a global network of 60 offices, we are united in our passion to deliver excellence. We have played a part in shaping infrastructure and improving communities in more than 65 countries, specializing in transportation, environmental, water, energy, and facility-related projects.

Founded in 2001 to address Central Pennsylvania’s need for increased opportunities for study leading to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, Harrisburg University is an innovative and ambitious private institution that produces graduates who provide increased competence and capacity in science and technology disciplines to Pennsylvania and the nation. Harrisburg University ensures institutional access for underrepresented students and links learning and research to practical outcomes. As a private University serving the public good, Harrisburg University remains the only STEM-focused comprehensive university located between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Established in 1964 as Pennsylvania's first community college, HACC has grown to become a multi-campus institution that plays a vital role in improving the quality of life in Central Pennsylvania. We provide high quality, low-cost educational opportunities, we strengthen the local economy, we train the region's workforce, and we share our cultural and educational resources with the community.

With a full- and part-time student enrollment of nearly 20,000 and over 55,000 served in noncredit courses, we are always seeking leaders in various fields to join HACC's mission to provide excellence in all aspects of the community and in quality education throughout the Central PA region.

So, that's one private infrastructure firm with a geo division, GeoDecisions, that's considered "a global leader in the design and development of innovative geospatial solutions and application," a private college that grants a four year geospatial degree and a certificate, and a state funded community college that offers an associates degree in GIS as well as a certificate program. The announcement left me with more questions than answers.

So, beginning in June, I left sent e-mails, left messages and finally spoke to a rep at Gannett Fleming who promised a response to the questions on July 9. Sadly, I never received a response. So, I made contact directly with GeoDecisions. The team there passed my questions on to Harrisburg University. Albert R. Sarvis, PMP, GISP, Assistant Professor of Geospatial Technology & Information Technology Project Management answered my questions. He comments that "We will likely have several months of business development work to do before the first official GTC project will begin," but all systems are in place.

Ignite Education: Is this a separate entity from the three partners?
Albert Sarvis: The center is virtual, in that work can take place at any of the three initial partner locations. A Memorandum of Understanding defines how the initial partners will operate together.

IE: Who will run it? A full time executive? Will there be a board?
AS: Liaison’s from each of the initial partners will coordinate activity and contribute to decisions regarding the future direction and activities of the Center. We intend to add additional partners over time and more fully define the governance and leadership of the center.

IE: Is it a non-profit?
AS: Revenue from GTC projects will cover employee/student direct costs and overhead for HU and HACC and will include a small profit percentage for the GTC to be used for both GTC capability expansion and public outreach activities. Non-academic partner organizations will continue to bid projects with profits built into their proposals, including profit to be contributed to the GTC.

IE: The press release notes the Center will be "online." I could find not Web presence at this time. Is there one?
AS: We will be building an online presence as activity increases. For now we have allocated space on the Harrisburg University Website for information about the GTC. http://www.harrisburgu.edu/academics/undergrad/gis/gtc.php

IE: How will these projects "for the public" be found/solicited? Will they be for non-profits only? For governments? For whom?
AS: The academic partners will primarily focus on grant based project opportunities and look to partner organizations, such as Gannett Fleming, to develop public, private project opportunities.

IE: Which students will be involved in the projects? A whole class? If not, how will they be selected?
AS: Individual students will be selected based on their ability to perform specific project requirements. Evaluation of their qualifications will be based on their completed coursework and demonstrated abilities.

IE: Will students get course credit for their project work?
AS: Students may work within the GTC for Internship or Project based experiential learning credits. Harrisburg University students must complete 2 experiential learning projects (each for 3 credits) and in internship (a minimum of 3 credits).

IE: What was the impetus for setting up this organization?
AS: The center was set up to provide robust alternative experiential learning for Geospatial Technology students. All of the initial partners recognize the importance of extended and substantive experience in addition to academic coursework. The GTC will provide students with opportunities to gain valuable experience that is not possible within the traditional post-secondary academic model.

IE: How is it funded?
AS: Each initial partner contributed startup funds and organizational resources such as software and workspace.

IE: Are the faculty being involved in efforts to put these projects in the context of a course or a program? How?
AS: Harrisburg University’s Geospatial Technology courses have been designed to put the program in the context of the needed skills for Geospatial Technology services. Any project tasks assigned to students will be directly correlated to the instruction they have received in class.

IE: Are faculty looking for ways to explore ways to evaluate learning from these projects?
AS: Students who conduct their internships or experiential learning projects (See HU requirements above) develop a Learning Contract with specific learning objectives and outcomes defined based on the GTC projects they are working on. Learning evaluation and grade assessment will be based on how well they meet the objectives of these contracts.

Kingston University Closes First Bachelors GIS Program

Kenneth Field (@kennethfield) writes on Twitter:

News reaches me that Kingston University London have closed the world's first Bachelors GIS course after 23 yrs. Words fail me.

He was there until joining Esri not long ago. He follows up:

@andnewmanGEO @jeremy_morley @osbornec someday I may post a long essay I wrote on what went on & what went wrong at KU...still too soon tho

I have no particular insight into this program or university, but I have been doing some work detailing new GIS degree and certificate programs in the United States. One conclusion I drew from my limited data was that there are new two year GIS certificate and associates degrees and masters degrees but no new four year bachelors degrees. There are few GIS bachelors degrees in the U.S.; off the top of my head I can think of just the one at American Sentinel, a for profit school, but I'm pretty sure there are few others. Somehow that degree package has not been popular here. Why not?

I think some geography programs were not comfortable with GIS leading geography. So degrees are conferred in geography but with a specialization in GIS. That's how my alma mater Penn State does it.

The current economic downturn and the push for more career focused learning has but students in the drivers' seat. They are demanding shorter programs that can get them into real jobs faster. Hence a two year certificate or two year associates degree can be a shortcut to a good paying job. The new masters programs I see are not academic masters, but rather professional masters aimed at adding skills to those of a currently working professional. Again, the goal is workforce enhancement.

Mr. Field suggests other factors may be at play at Kingston, but at some level its following the pattern I'm seeing here in the U.S.

Does Advocating for GIS Preclude Advocating for Geography Education?

The New Hampshire Sentinel Source has an article about the state's new K-12 statewide education license of Esri software. The article offers a responsible look at the potential uses of GIS and the challenges of educating teachers to use the technology and apply it across the curriculum.

What jumped out at me was this:

Bryant [Lara M.P. Bryant, an assistant professor of geography at Keene State College] also is the coordinator for the New Hampshire Geographic Alliance, which spent almost two years advocating for a statewide license for the software.

Best I understand it, the New Hampshire Educational GIS Partnership (NHEdGIS which includes the NH Geographic Alliance and partners) spent two years advocating  to sign a contract with Esri for its software for use in public and private schools across the state. And it was successful!

And, here's a key bit of the deal, that seems to have been at Esri's prompting:

For the partnership, the institute [Esri] wanted a commitment from the state education department that the department would teach instructors how to use the software, so the full potential is achieved, she said. The partnership calls for a $45,000 match in professional development for teachers to learn about Geographic Information Systems.

That's a great addition since as we know, software without training and professional development, just sits there!

This success story highlights yet another divide in geography education advocacy. I wrote in the past about how it's tough to promote GIS because it's got a dual personality as both social science (humanities) and STEM. We may have the same dual pathway issue in advocacy.

The Geographic Alliance and its partners decided to use its energy to go after a statewide K-12 GIS license from Esri. I do not know when or how that decision was made. But based on the various partner websites, that focus overshadowed others advocacy efforts including support for for federal funding of geography via Speak Up for Geography (which in turn supports TGIF, the geography is fundamental act).

Is it possible that efforts to get technology (in this case Esri software) are pre-empting advocacy efforts to enhance geography education and geography professional development in particular (TGIF)? It is possible this is akin to energy put into getting a 1to 1 iPad or laptop program into schools without  a clear picture of how it will help second graders to learn how to read?

I do not mean to criticize the efforts of the organizations of NH. I'm sure they made the choice they felt best enhanced geography education in that state. I just wonder if having this "tech route" (Esri K-12 license) vs. the "PD geography route" (TGIF) implies a split loyalty across the country and hence a split set of advocacy efforts. Could these different (and I should be clear, compelling) advocacy options be part of what's holding back success in broader geography education?

MentorLinks Builds GIS Programs at Community Colleges

The Atlantic details the MentorLinks program, one I'd never heard of, but one that has touched GIS, but more on that later.

One good model for capacity building at the sub-baccalaureate level is the MentorLinks program, administered by the American Association of Community Colleges as part of the Advancing Technological Education program, which is Congressionally mandated and funded by the National Science Foundation. The MentorLinks program isn't big or flashy, but for a relatively modest investment in a select number of STEM programs at community colleges, it appears to achieve some significant, lasting results.

Here's how it works: through a national grant competition, AACC selects a small number of community colleges for a two-year grant program. The current 2011-2013 cohort has eight grantees, bringing the grand total of grantees since the program started in 2002 to just 33. Each grantee receives a modest grant to fund program development (for the current cohort, the two-year grant total was just $20,000) along with funding for travel to attending national meetings.  

The grantees represent a range of technical education programs from across the country, and each is matched with a mentor who has knowledge and connections in the area of STEM training the grantees plan to develop, with mentors receiving a small stipend. Working closely with their mentors, faculty and staff from the colleges endeavor to establish or strengthen a specific program, often in partnership with regional and local partners in government and industry.

I dug through the archives at MentorLinks to find grantee who tackled GIS. I found one, from Lincoln Land Community College in Illinois (where else?). Search this pdf for GIS and you'll find the write up about an intro GIS course offered in 2010 and some workshops with Esri. There was a plan for a certificate program in 2011. As of today I see just that same single GIS intro course in the course catalog.

Digging deeper into the past, I learned the City College of San Francisco worked on a "GIS Across the Curriculum" project (pdf of results) while Springfield Technical Community College, MA worked on "Advancing Workforce Education in GIS" in 2005-2007 (pdf of results). Kentucky Community and Technical College System, KY tackled "Geographical Information Systems Partnership" (ppt of results) back in 2002-2004. There's a 2009 article from the Community College Times explaining how the model pairs mentors from other community colleges with those trying to build programs and well as how some mentees turned mentors joined the GeoTech Center.
These efforts seem to pre-date and create the building blocks for work done by the GeoTech Center and other players, including Esri. Do we have enough experience, documentation and insight to build a best practices document aimed at creating or growing a successful community college GIS program?

- The Atlantic

Flipping Bloom's Taxonomy in Geography/GIS

Bloom's Taxonomy

I didn't learn about Bloom's taxonomy until I started teaching in a graduate program. I liked the idea of  classifying skills from least to most complex - with remembering/understanding at the bottom and evaluating and creating at the top. In the graduate program we aimed for the upper regions of the pyramid used to visualize Bloom's thinking. But as Shelley Wright writes at Powerful Learning Practice, that vision may restrict educators to think, and thus teach, with the idea that to achieve those higher skills, the lower ones must be mastered first. She argues that makes little sense and that it's time to flip the pyramid and start at the top. In particular, she suggests starting with a top level skill: creating.

She offers examples from media studies, chemistry, and English. I'll describe the chemistry one since it has some geography in it (wait for it!). Students build simple testers to determine if different solutions (NaCl, HCL, sugar, etc.) conduct electricity. After experimenting with a dozen or so solutions they try to figure out why some conduct and some don't. By looking at the compounds' makeup, students might determine that those solutions that do conduct electricity have elements from from different sides of the periodic table. (Geography!) Further exploration may indicate that all of those that do conduct have metal as one of the elements and a non-metal as the other. Hmmm. Only then does the instructor start to introduce concepts like ionic and covalent bonds. Students do some research on their own (online, in textbooks, etc.), then revisit their own observations. That sounds like a great chemistry lab, full of evaluating and hopefully some creating in the form of making new solutions to test and predict the results.

Flipping Bloom's Taxonomy in Geography/GIS Lessons

Now, how might we use creation as the first step in a geography or GIS lesson? Here are some "off the top of my head and not fully thought through" ideas:

Cartography (Objective: learn basic parts of a map)

Have students draw (by hand, on paper) maps of well-known routes in school or in the area such as the route from the school's main entrance to the football field or the route from their locker to the lunch room. Have them pair up and swap maps. The assignment is to give advice to make the map better. A student might consider these questions about the partners map: Do I know what it's a map of? What's missing? What's extra? Each pair then offers the class one thing they agree needs to be on all maps. Hopefully, across the groups most of the key components of maps will come out (legends, title, scale bars, symbols, labels, etc.) Then the class can discuss whether all are needed on every map or not.

Analysis (Objective: learn basics of setting spatial criteria)

Either on a GIS or on with paper maps, have students spend a short period of time, in groups perhaps, do a site selection (though you need not call it that just yet!). Depending on what datasets are at hand, it might be finding a spot for a new Starbucks or where it'd be best to plant a certain crop or where one is most likely to find Indian artifacts. You should give them no guidance whatsoever, just tell them to do their best with the data they have. Have each group present its solution pushing them to answer "why" that location was selected. Write down all the criteria mentioned (even those that are seemingly irrelevant) on the board. Now have the class pick out the five most important criteria. Then have them weight them. Then, if possible, run that newly developed model on a GIS. The students can research site selection, learn the vocabulary and explore some of the functions used to do site selection via GIS (vector or raster).

Scale (Objective: learn the basics of scale, small and large and when to use each)

Hang a simple geometric black and white pattern (2' x 2') at the end of a long hallway. Give students a paper border (2" x 2") to look at it through. Give each pair a square piece of paper (maybe folded to have four quadrants). Have each pair stand different distances from the pattern (1', 2', 5' 10' 20' etc.) hold up their border and look through it to the pattern. They are to draw what they see through the border on the square piece of paper. The idea is to full up the paper with what is in the border. Tack the drawings in distance order (1', 2', 5' 10' 20' etc.) on the wall. What happens as you step away? Do you see more or less of the pattern and/or what's around it? Do you see more or less detail? Depending on the accuracy of the drawings (and the nature of the pattern) you might even be able to determine the scale (RF) for each drawing by comparing the length of a line on the original to one on the drawing. Following the exercise, students can research the concept of scale and perhaps suggest more accurate ways to scale the maps they made.

Does flipping Bloom's Taxonomy sound like a good idea for geography/GIS teaching and learning? Have you taught this way in the past? Did it work? Do you have any other "create first" types of geography/GIS lessons to share?

Getting Women to Speak at Geo Conferences

The topic of the small number of women presenters at geo conferences popped up on Twitter last  week in the context of the Location Intelligence Conference (put on by the company for which I work, Directions Media). I found just a few women speaking at the event. My guess is the proportion is not all that different from any other geo conferences, save perhaps, those focused on education. And, I'll go further and suggest that the percentage of women speaking at geo events has not changed much in my 20 years in the field.

Instead of asking why, I want to focus on how to encourage women to share their knowledge at conferences. Here are some ideas I've come up, with along with some I've heard from others in the industry.

Invite Women to Speak

There is no better feeling than having an event organizer make you feel special by inviting you personally to participate. The invitation may involve financial aid or other incentive to attend, but that's not required.

Encourage Women to Speak within Your Organization

Do you have a "brown bag" lunch where staffers share their work or what they learned at a conference? Are women represented? If not, again, invite their participation. Such a presentation might even be part of and individuals professional development plan.

Support Educational Opportunities that Require Communication

I know communication is a key focus in the Penn State GIS Certificate and MGIS programs. As a member of the advisory board, I agreed that students should not only write in the program,  but create videos, and speak formally and informally to one another. The MGIS capstone project requires a presentation in person, at a conference.

Look for Great Women Speakers

When organizers put together conferences, perhaps they probably don't think much about the balance of speakers. Why? Finding good speakers is NOT easy. Finding good women speakers is even harder simply because this field is male dominated. That means all of us need to keep our eyes open for great speakers of both genders. Please help me with that; I get e-mails all the time asking me to suggest great geo speakers. None, to date, have asked specifically for women, I must add. It would be an interesting challenge for a conference agenda group to make it a goal to have at least one women as a keynote speaker. How about it? (I point this to my own colleagues, as well!)

I'd love to hear any other ideas to get women out on the conference circuit! The benefits to one's career and one's organization are significant.

GIS Certificate: $2,400 and Four Saturdays

If I read this press release and this website correctly, you can get a GIS certificate from Cal Poly Pamona for just $2,400. Students take four classes at $600 each; two are required and two are electives (though only two electives are available, as I write this). Each one is taught on a single Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm. The required courses use Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop and the electives use Getting to Know ArcObjects, Programming ArcGIS with VBA (?) and the Esri Virtual Campus resources.


I appreciate that Cal Poly Pamona is straightforward about what the short program can and can't do.

This certificate program is intended for prospective non-specialist GIS users in a variety of professional settings. The certificate is not intended to prepare full-time GIS specialists, but rather to impart useful and necessary GIS skills to analysts, planners and managers in the wide range of fields that require location or planning decisions, resource management/allocation decisions or spatial optimization of networks, routes or systems.

I'm pleased so many schools are offering GIS courses, certificates and degrees. I think having a variety of face-to-face, online, hybrid and other ways to teach and learn are key to getting the word out to as many potential practitioners as possible. The variety of options means that both students and hiring managers need to do their homework.

Students need to remember that old adage, "if something looks too good to be true..." In short, a program that is short and inexpensive may not deliver the same content, teach the same skills or have the same impact on a hiring manager. That said, I think such offerings can be great introductions and/or stepping stones to further self-study or more formal study of GIS.

The real challenge for those on the hiring side is to be sure distinguish between the kinds of skills acquired and degrees conferred by such programs. A "GIS certificate" may be open to anyone and hus is taught to address those with a variety of backgrounds. The Cal Poly Pamona program falls into this group. A "post baccalaureate certificate" means a bachelor's degree is a pre-requisite and the courses are aimed at individuals with that level of educational experience. Some programs even count such coursework towards a Masters (Penn State and Denver for two).

Teachable Moment: Apple Credits OpenStreetMap

Last Thursday the OpenStreetMap (OSM) twitter account posted an image confirming that Apple, which now uses the map data in its iPhoto software, has given the contributors due credit. Back on March 8 many folks involved in mapping and mapping data cheered as Apple showed off the new iPhoto for the new iPad and it included OSM (APB coverage). They then hung their heads low as they realized Apple did so without proper attribution (OSM Foundation Blog).

After the tweet above, news outlets from The Next Web to Spatially Adjusted shared the news that Apple basically did the right thing. The gory details include how both the OSM Foundation and an iOS developer helped Apple make the change (Talking Points Memo coverage). Why is this change such big news? Honestly, it's not big news. It's just that any Apple news is exciting. And, in the mapping arena Apple mapping news, is well, news.

A better question to ask is how to turn this non-news in a teachable moment for geography and GIS students and geography and GIS practitioners. My answer is to use this as a jumping off point to look at spatial data licenses.

First, of course, have a look at what the OpenStreetMap license says. OpenStreetMap is currently distributed under a Creative Commons (CC) License. It's stated in plain English that you can use the map images or map data, so long as you include attribution and if possible a link to the OSM website and the CC license. The OSM license page even includes sample text you can copy! The page also makes clear that if you alter or build on the data you can only release it under the same license. (If you want to be really up to date, prepare yourself because OpenStreetMap is changing to a new license. That said, I'd get familiar with CC first.)

Once you are familiar with the current OSM license consider these questions:

• Are the Creative Commons Licenses new to you?
• Where else have you seen them? If you haven't, find some non-mapping content that is licensed that way.
• Why do you think OSM and other creators chose this license?
• Would you distribute your works (article, music, art, maps, data, etc.) under this type of license? Why or why not?
• Did you know you can use some search engine tools to identify content release under CC licenses (and sometimes other licenses)? See if your favorite search tools allows such a search. (Hint: you might need to look under "advanced" searching.)

Second, explore some other data distribution licenses. What licenses do these data products use? How are they different from Creative Commons? Why did the data creators/providers choose those licenses?

• VMAP0 (formerly Digital Chart of the World, DCW)
• The City of Chicago
• The City of Vancouver 
• Nokia (formerly NAVTEQ)
• TomTom (formerly Tele Atlas)
• DigitalGlobe  
• GeoEye 
• Landsat 

Finally, think about why we have licenses for data and for creative works. Should we? Do the licenses you found for the geodatasets listed above make sense? Serve their intended goals? What should be changed? Anything?