jps services
  • Home Page
  • GIS Training Courses
    • QGIS Training Courses
    • ArcGIS Training Courses
    • MapInfo Pro Training Courses >
      • MapBasic Training Course
  • About
  • Blog

GIS training courses - Face to Face or On-line? 

27/8/2013

0 Comments

 
Motivation is a powerful force if you have the need to achieve a training objective, such as learning how to use a desktop GIS software package. There are now numerous ways to learn how to become effective with the main GIS software solutions like ArcGIS, MapInfo and Quantum GIS.

You can download these GIS solutions and trial them on your pc, laptop or tablet. With proprietary software such as ArcGIS and MapInfo you will have a thirty day to sixty day window in which to appraise the software without cost to see if it meets your requirements. Quantum GIS is open source software and as such there is no cost implication or time limit in checking out its features and functionality.

All these GIS desktop packages have numerous on-line resources as well as a number of well written training manuals which will take you systematically through all the features of the software. Of course you could take an on-line course, which you can often take over a period of weeks or months, to fully immerse yourself in the functionality of your chosen GIS. However, in many cases the GIS is required for a specific task where the 80-20 rule applies. This means, as you may only need about 20% of the functionality, you do not necessarily want to wade through potentially many hours of training material to achieve a specific objective.

The other factor, which is often the case, is how motivated you are to learn through methods which rely on you persevering to work on your own, over a minimum of six to ten hours, to achieve any level of competency. How often do we start a project, like going regularly to a gym ,only to find that we have neither the time or the interest to continue with it after a couple of weeks? We then end up paying for a gym membership which we don't actually make use of. This can also apply to many other resolutions that we make in good faith and then find,, always through well considered logic, that we no longer wish to pursue.

So, for those who have the motivation and the time, for options such as on-line courses, these methods could offer a way of becoming proficient with a GIS desktop solution. However, if you need to become effective with a GIS, and start to achieve your specific objectives more quickly, then a one or two day face-to-face training course may be more appropriate. Especially if your chosen course provider also offers support in the weeks after completing the training!

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Joe Short BSc has been involved with various mapping solutions for over twenty years.  If you are considering implementing a GIS  or have ArcGIS Pro, MapInfo Pro or QGIS training requirements, jps services would be happy to be of assistance to your organisation. 

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    Categories

    All
    Arc Gis
    Arcview
    Autodesk
    Cad
    Gis Training
    Local Government
    Mapbasic
    Mapinfo
    Quantum Gis
    Relational Databases
    Saga Gis

    RSS Feed