Mid-MOOC Progress Report and Spotlights

It is hard to believe that we are half-way through UWF’s first MOOC! The response has been overwhelming and we have you to thank! To date, we have over 3200 students registered and have awarded over 1132 badges. According to a recent mid-course survey, student experiences and feedback is exceedingly positive!

We have contacted several of our students and with their permission, highlighted them below.  We greatly appreciate all the kind words.  If you are enrolled in the MOOC and want to share your experiences, please contact me (Leah) at lewis@uwf.edu.

I am excited to see what the remaining of the course brings in terms of student interaction and growth.  If you have yet to register - there is still time to join the MOOC movement. Click to get started!


Leah

Dr. Joseph Kerski, GISP, Esri Education Manager -- "Rigorous.  Good balance of theory and practice.  Thank you!"

Megan B. Government Cartographer --   I really wanted to let you know how impressed I am with the class. One of my duties at work has been to train staff in various GIS platforms. Since I work in a production environment I am always looking for better ways to teach as I often times have a very wide range of skills throughout my classes. Your class has given me new ideas and ways on making my materials better. The power points are perfect, not too much information to overload the students with and they are direct and to the point. The labs are definitely my favorite, from content to layout and graphics, these exercises are just perfect for new comers. It is challenging finding free GIS classes that are structured and taught well and I am truly thankful that I found your class. I hope in the future UWF may think of having some more advanced classes in GIS.

 

Ian Krauss, Government Research Assistant -- “I regretfully did not take any GIS courses while I was in college and now use GIS at work. I began teaching myself simple tasks through different tutorials but none of them were comprehensive enough to develop my skills where I felt confident in them. The MOOC via the University of West Florida has done a great job so far of teaching me the terminology and basic skills that many other free tutorials do not offer.”

Kirk C.-- "A great way to keep apprised of the current environment within the GIS world and how it applies to my field."

Elizabeth C., University of North Carolina Wilmington -- "I am learning how to make maps. In addition, it has been helping me make critical decision making processes, and become more confident in my abilities."  (photo coming soon)

Mike P. -- I've been out of GIS for a very long time. This course has helped re-familiarize myself with core concepts."

Zachary Shrader -- “The course has been extremely helpful, as I have been able to implement many of the course concepts directly into the projects I have been assigned at my job. My current job is cartography-heavy, so the first two labs were particularly useful in helping me to remember things that I had previously learned.