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Some Thoughts on the Future of GIS EducationBy Dr. Duane F. Marble, Center for Mapping, Ohio State University
Aside from the problem of general understanding of geography and the role that it plays in our daily lives, we also see that GIS technology is rapidly becoming more sophisticated (easy to use does not necessarily imply easy to create!). This imposes substantial new challenges for postsecondary education where existing GIS educational programs must undergo massive and rapid changes to transform them into ones that focus upon geographic information science (GIScience) as well as upon existing and future GIS technology. The future developer of GIS technology, as well as those scientists who choose to work in the rapidly developing area of GIScience (which underlies all of GIS technology), must acquire much deeper understandings of areas such as computer science, operations research, geographic theory, and modern approaches to spatial data acquisition. Programs in higher education that encompass these areas will clearly be fully as challenging as today's engineering curricula. Regretfully, institutions of higher education move slowly and are often reluctant to commit resources to new programs, such as GIScience, that cross established interdisciplinary boundaries and do not come with a clear national priority, and hopefully external resources, attached to them. The necessary shape of the future in GIS education is clear: we must create a general atmosphere where geographic problems are recognized and appreciated and we must also significantly restructure our postsecondary education efforts so as to educate our students at significantly higher levels. The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS--www.ucgis.org) is currently working to establish postsecondary program definitions in GIScience. However, to accomplish the needed revolutionary changes in GIS education will require the concerted efforts of all those individuals and organizations who use or are concerned with the use of GIS today and with its potential for our future. |