AfriSpatial

Interest in QGIS is growing among high school Geography teachers in southern Africa. Teachers are looking for GIS software that is affordable, easy to use and understand and easy to teach with. They say it’s important to be flexible and creative in the classroom and not be stuck with fixed lesson plans. Hands-on work such as on-screen digitising and map composition is important. Quantum GIS satisfies all these requirements.

Following the recent QGIS workshop in the Western Cape we were invited to present a QGIS workshop at Michaelhouse College in kwaZulu-Natal Province. Twenty-two Geography teachers spent Monday 15th Nov in the Geography computer room learning the basics of QGIS and how it could be used in practical lessons. Bridget Fleming, as a Geography teacher who uses GIS in every lesson, gave an introduction from a teacher’s perspective and gave a background on FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) and its history and principles.  Then Gavin Fleming from AfriSpatial and Frank Sokolic from GIS Solutions / EduAction took QGIS through its paces.

Bridget’s tip for teachers who are daunted by technology is: “Just get the kids started and they will teach you the rest!”

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 09:05, HTC HTC Magic

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 09:33, HTC HTC Magic

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 10:57, NIKON COOLPIX L16, 2.8, 5.7mm, 0.007 sec, ISO 565

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 10:57, NIKON COOLPIX L16, 2.8, 5.7mm, 0.007 sec, ISO 800

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 10:57, NIKON COOLPIX L16, 2.8, 5.7mm, 0.007 sec, ISO 518

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 10:58, NIKON COOLPIX L16, 2.8, 5.7mm, 0.011 sec, ISO 800

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 10:58, NIKON COOLPIX L16, 2.8, 5.7mm, 0.005 sec, ISO 702

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 10:58, NIKON COOLPIX L16, 2.8, 5.7mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 800

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 10:59, NIKON COOLPIX L16, 3.5, 9.873mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400

View at Picasa 15-Nov-2010 14:23, HTC HTC Magic

AfriSpatial has teamed up with Linfiniti and Geograph in a collaboration we’re calling FOSS GIS Academy. One of the refrains of those wary of investing in or migrating to FOSS GIS solutions is “But there’s no training available”. Well that’s not true any more. Linfiniti ran a successful week-long professional course at the Satellite Application Centre and we recently ran a more outreach-style one-day QGIS course. Building on these, which demonstrate that there is some demand for such courses and that we can muster the resources to deliver them, we’re expanding our offerings. Our first courses as FOSS GIS Academy are around the corner:

• QGIS and PostGIS, 18-22 October in Muizenberg, Cape Town.
• Webmapping for Developers (PostGIS, MapServer, Django, OpenLayers) Nov 29 – Dec 3 in Swellendam, Western Cape.

To find out more or register, see http://www.fossgisacademy.com/courses