Personalization of teaching spatial information users

Abstract

GIS education, both at the academic level and in the form of training for spatial data users, should be changed from teaching about GIS components and functions in its traditional meaning, to teaching how to search for and use spatial data sets. The INSPIRE Directive implementation supports these efforts as there are more and more spatial datasets available at geoportals. For the proposed type of teaching, especially when time of teaching is limited, personalization is recommended. It is based on connection of spatial datasets (topographic, aerial, satellite, thematic) with a location which is familiar for a student, preferably with the place of residence. This involves an emotional link between the student and tasks and, therefore, supports efforts aiming at data searching and visualization. It also makes it easier to assess the data quality and usefulness for various tasks. Moreover, it encourages to explore advanced GIS technologies. This approach has been already successfully applied in several types of teaching, especially those dedicated for spatial data users.