Free Five Course Series on QGIS Starts Soon

Del Mar College is offering a free online course that gives an introduction to GIS and QGIS.  The course is titled "Introduction to Geospatial Technology Using QGIS" and is available from the Canvas Network.  The five-week course is self-paced and runs from February 23rd to March 27th. Already 1,000 students are signed up. The courses were created with funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and US Department of Labor.

It is great to see a course geared towards QGIS!  The course hits on components of the core competencies for entry level geospatial occupations as outlined here.  It includes lectures and hands-on exercises.  If you can't wait or can't find time, the course materials for this course and others are available at GitHub: https://github.com/FOSS4GAcademy.

From the OSGeo listserve, this course is part of a larger effort to educate about GIS and FOSS GIS called "Geo For All" and GeoAcademy.  This is the first course in a sequence of five, so more courses will be on the way!

The other four courses are:

• Spatial Analysis Using QGIS
• Data Acquisition and Management Using QGIS
• Cartography Using QGIS
• Remote Sensing Using QGIS

If you know someone who is interested in GIS or QGIS and likes independent study, it looks like a solid opportunity!  

For more information: https://www.canvas.net/browse/delmarcollege/courses/cn-1681-intro-qgis

Course offerings from Penn State University (PSU) and Coursera: 

http://opensourcegisblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/free-online-mapping-classes-from-psu.html

OSGeo.org -- Your Open Source Compass

Today, I want to talk a little about OSGeo.org's website.  OSGeo stands for Open Source Geospatial Foundation--in other words the website is much more than just your average site!  It is more of a gateway to people, software, conferences, and other open source goodness.

The first thing you will see is a list of current open source GIS news, including updates on open source software releases, conferences, meetings and other tidbits of information.  To its right you will see a list of aggregated GIS blogs which is extremely helpful so you don't have to go hunt down each blog individually.

Somewhat hidden in the lower right hand side/corner is a list of of open source GIS software, both new and old.  If you are unfamiliar with the names, simply click a link a short description provides any user with a basic description of what the software does, the project's status/incubation, and what type of files it can use.  The page is also available in multiple languages in the opposite left hand corner.

Another cool feature is downloading a bundle of open source GIS software (OSGeo Live) without having to install it!  The download can be loaded onto a USB or DVD and lets you sample the software.  There's also a video of the best of open source GIS software.