GIS COURSE

[Clueless91]

Hi all, not sure if this is the appropriate place to ask this question but any insight would be helpful!

I was wondering if there are any FREE online training programs/courses/training a for GIS? I'm just really interested in getting my feet wet before I actually start the Fall semester.

Thanks!

[geographyrocks]

Well, the only way to really learn a program is by using it and you aren't going to be able to find a free version of ArcGIS. If the course you're taking is even marginally well planned, it'll start with the basics and baby step into more advanced topics. I TA an Intro to GIS course and there's a guy who can barely use his computer. He's picking it up just fine. It's a pretty intuitive program.

Edited to add: You can play around with Google Earth. It's grown leaps and bounds and will get you familiar with looking at maps and manipulating them.

Edited February 7, 2015 by geographyrocks

[qeta]

There are some GIS courses by Penn State that are offered for free on Coursera. I haven't taken them so can't vouch for them. I learned ArcGIS basically because I had to for a large survey project at an NGO. As geographyrocks says, it was fairly intuitive and easy to pick up. Some universities hand out a one-year, student version of ArcGIS for free as long as you're registered, so you may want to check with your university's electronic resources librarians about that.

[dr. t]

Well, the only way to really learn a program is by using it and you aren't going to be able to find a free version of ArcGIS. If the course you're taking is even marginally well planned, it'll start with the basics and baby step into more advanced topics. I TA an Intro to GIS course and there's a guy who can barely use his computer. He's picking it up just fine. It's a pretty intuitive program.

Edited to add: You can play around with Google Earth. It's grown leaps and bounds and will get you familiar with looking at maps and manipulating them.

 

Uh, QGIS? The WorldMap project?

 

Also, the idea that ArcGIS is "pretty intuitive" made me snort my drink across my keyboard. 

Edited February 8, 2015 by telkanuru

[qeta]

Uh, QGIS? The WorldMap project?

 

Also, the idea that ArcGIS is "pretty intuitive" made me snort my drink across my keyboard. 

Nevermind.

Edited February 8, 2015 by qeta

[geographyrocks]

Uh, QGIS? The WorldMap project?

 

Also, the idea that ArcGIS is "pretty intuitive" made me snort my drink across my keyboard. 

I have no idea if the free GIS projects are anything like ArcGIS which is what most classrooms use. If they are, that information would be useful. If they aren't, then the original poster will simply learn a program that won't help with his/her class.

[dr. t]

I have no idea if the free GIS projects are anything like ArcGIS which is what most classrooms use. If they are, that information would be useful. If they aren't, then the original poster will simply learn a program that won't help with his/her class.

 

QGIS is pretty decent for what it is and, I think, close enough to be useful. But even something like WorldMap is a great tool to help beginners explore the way one needs to think about data when using GIS software.

 

FWIW, I'm the managing editor of a sizable collaborative mapping project (see signature link), and a great portion of my time is spent teaching humanities students (and professors) to use GIS software.

Edited February 8, 2015 by telkanuru

[Clueless91]

Thank you guys for all your input! I will definitely look into some options at my current university

[Roll Right]

ESRI offers free trials of ArcGIS which last for three months. Plenty of time to learn. Visit the ESRI site.

It is not user friendly.

[Demeter]

I would check out Colorado State's online stuff, either through OnlinePlus, or Warner, or the College of Ag. I know there are lots of tutorials floating around. Here's a link. I've no idea if it will be helpful to you. 

 

I agree with Right Roll in that I have seen the free trials, and there is some tutorials on the ESRI website. I mention it to add that I think there are also free recorded seminars there too. 

[Sword_Saint]

Like the other users have indicated, ArcGIS is anything but user friendly, in my experience at least. This is an unfortunate side effect of being capable of doing so much- you can really do a lot of things with the software.

 

I used it for crime mapping in a "Crime Mapping and Analysis" course so I imagine you may be using it for different purposes as a straight GIS student.

 

One resource for online courses not mentioned yet is "Lynda.com". They have courses on ArcGIS and other programs as well. Below is the link to their site where I searched for Arc GIS:

 

http://www.lynda.com/ArcGIS-training-tutorials/1963-0.html

Edited February 19, 2015 by Sword_Saint