A how-to guide for teaching GIS courses online with hardware or software
in the cloud
UMass Amherst GIS degree program director and team compare methods,
report user feedback

Date:
August 19, 2020
Source:
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Summary:
Geographers offer first-hand accounts of what is required for
GIS instructors and IT administrators to set up virtual computing
specifically for providing state-of-the-art geographic information
systems (GIS) instruction.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In a new paper this week, geographer Forrest Bowlick at the University
of Massachusetts Amherst and colleagues at Texas A&M offer first-hand
accounts of what is required for GIS instructors and IT administrators
to set up virtual computing specifically for providing state-of-the-art geographic information systems (GIS) instruction.


========================================================================== Bowlick says, "Our research is very applicable in the current remote
learning era that we're working through, because it provides expertly
driven insight into how to set up a virtual computing environment in
different modes: with hardware and with software in the cloud. While
tailored to those needing GIS support, it is also very applicable for
other high-performance software needs." "By capturing the experiences of
both setting up the system and of students using the system, we provide an important resource for others needing to make this investment of time, equipment and energy," he adds. Such technical practice is becoming
required for GIS and other instruction, he points out.

Writing in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education, the authors
compare an onsite server set-up and a virtualized cloud set-up scenario
and report some student feedback on using a course taught this way. The
growing need for fast computers, they point out, has made it harder for everyone to build the machines they need. "Our work talks about how to
build fast computers in different ways and shares what we know about
making fast computers for digital geography," Bowlick notes.

He says, "UMass is just one of several programs nationally, but
regionally it's very attractive, especially at the graduate level,
because there are not that many in New England. Ours certainly started
at the right time, too. With the turn toward using more computational
skills and GIS practices, how to use different computer constructs and programming language are become more fundamental needs in education."
Bowlick has directed a one-year M.S. geography degree program with an
emphasis in GIS at UMass Amherst since 2017. He says there may be 10 or
15 students from every college on campus with different majors in the introductory course in a given semester. They need to gain fundamentals
of spatial thinking, operating software and problem solving applicable
to the diverse interests that students bring to the course.

Generally, these applications involve how to think through spatial
problems on such topics as political geography, for example, which might
ask who is voting and where, or on gerrymandering and how to discover
it. Others are creating COVID-19 virus maps and spatial data to show its prevalence for spatial epidemiology and health geography, while others
are modeling ecosystems for fish and wildlife.

Bowlick explains that geographic information science is "a bridging
science" - - a suite of technologies, a way of thinking and a way to store spatial data including satellite systems for navigation. GIS handles
imagery, computer mapping, spatial planning, modeling land cover over
time, even helping businesses decide where to open their next location.

GIS was first developed in the late 60s when the Canada Land Inventory
needed ways to store, manage and analyze land resource maps over huge
areas using new computer technology, Bowlick says. His two co-authors
at Texas A&M, both experienced GIS instructors, are Dan Goldberg,
an associate professor in geography, and Paul Stine, an IT system
administrator for geography.

The authors describe the setup, organization and execution of teaching
an introductory WebGIS course while considering student experiences in
such a course.

The paper also defines an operational set of resource metrics needed
to support the computing needs of students using virtual machines
for server-based CyberGIS classes, as well as comparing costs and
components needed to build and support an on-premise private cloud
teaching environment for a WebGIS course in an on-premise private cloud teaching environment vs. a comparable cloud-based service provider.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Massachusetts_Amherst. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Daniel W. Goldberg, Forrest J. Bowlick, Paul
E. Stine. Virtualization in
CyberGIS instruction: lessons learned constructing a
private cloud to support development and delivery of a WebGIS
course. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 2020; 1 DOI:
10.1080/03098265.2020.1802704 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200819170229.htm

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