Education on the Gis Frontier: Cybergis and Its Components

Geographic information systems (GIS) are a fundamental information technology. Coupled with advancing developments in spatial analysis through geographic information science (GISci), the capabilities and applications of GIS and GISci continue to rapidly expand. This expansion requires practitioners to have new skills and competencies, especially in computer science and programming. One developing framework for GIS’ future is that of Cyber Geographic Information Systems (CyberGIS), which fuses the technical capabilities of advanced cyber-infrastructure, like cloud and server computing, with the spatial analysis capabilities of GIS. This structure of GIS requires further computer science and programming abilities, but how GIS practitioners use and value the variant components within CyberGIS is unknown. This gap makes teaching and preparing students on the CyberGIS frontier difficult. The GIS skillset is in an ever-present state of re-imagination, but with the growing prominence of CyberGIS, which seeks to capitalize on advanced computing to benefit analysis in GIS, the need for an understanding of educational implications continues to grow. This dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to explore how CyberGIS functions academically. First, I explore how university geography departments in the U.S. integrate computer science and programming skills in their undergraduate geography and GIS degree programs by reviewing degree requirements in highly-ranked departments. Few departments require computer science or programming courses for undergraduate degrees. Then, I explore the nature of knowledge and skills in CyberGIS using machine reading and q- methodology to explore viewpoints of how key CyberGIS skills function. The three viewpoints I identify reveal highly conflicting mindsets of how GIS functions. Finally, I use syllabi from different GIS programming and computer science courses to identify common topics, course structures, and instructional materials across a broad sample of courses. Three major topic foci emerged, including GIS scripting with Python, web-enabling GIS with JavaScript and HTML, and geodatabase manipulation with SQL. Some common instructional materials exist, but syllabi show little consistency in their curriculum focus and instructional design within or across topics relating GIS programming and computer science. There is little consistency or emphasis in current educational efforts concerning computer science and programming and how they function in building competencies required in CyberGIS. While CyberGIS promises advanced computing capabilities using complex systems, the fractured and uneven nature of basic computer science and programming instruction in GIS indicates that to achieve a Cyber-enabled GIS future, a much larger chasm between GIS and computer science must be bridged

A literature review of the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education

This review focuses on the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education. It provides a synthesis of the research literature in the field and a series of illustrative examples of how these tools are being used in learning and teaching. It draws out the perceived benefits that these new technologies appear to offer, and highlights some of the challenges and issues surrounding their use. The review forms the basis for a HE Academy funded project, ‘Peals in the Cloud’, which is exploring how Web 2.0 tools can be used to support evidence-based practices in learning and teaching. The project has also produced two in-depth case studies, which are reported elsewhere (Galley et al., 2010, Alevizou et al., 2010). The case studies focus on evaluation of a recently developed site for learning and teaching, Cloudworks, which harnesses Web 2.0 functionality to facilitate the sharing and discussion of educational practice. The case studies aim to explore to what extent the Web 2.0 affordances of the site are successfully promoting the sharing of ideas, as well as scholarly reflections, on learning and teaching

2011, UMaine News Press Releases

This is a catalog of press releases put out by the University of Maine Division of Marketing and Communications between January 3, 2011 and December 30, 2011