Questions about Geograf.io Learn short courses? We have answers! If you have any questions that are not answered here, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us directly.
Basic Information
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Who develops and teaches Geograf.io Learn short courses?
- Geograf.io Learn short courses are developed and managed by a team of Ph.D.-holding GIS educations who actively teach and research at leading academic institutions in the United States. The short courses offered by Geograf.io Learn are the result of many years of effort on the part of our instructors to craft and deliver the best in geospatial technology education in an online environment, in a manner that encourages both critical thinking and practical application of GIS methods.
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What are Geograf.io Learn short courses?
- The short courses offered by Geograf.io Learn are self-paced online courses that introduce important concepts and techniques in geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial technology. Participants in Geograf.io Learn short courses learn to make digital maps and perform geographic data analysis analysis using free and open source GIS software. Some Geograf.io Learn short courses are available at no cost, while others require paid subscriptions.
Registration and Certificates of Completion
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Is Geograf.io Learn an accredited academic institution?
- No. We are an geospatial technology and online education startup and not an accredited educational institution. Our courses carry no transferrable academic credit, and our certificates of completion simply reflect our team’s assessment that a participant has completed a course with a sufficient level of mastery. That said, our team of Ph.D.-holding educators, most of whom teach actively at major universities in the United States, offer Geograf.io Learn students expertly-crafted courses. Students who opt to receive certificates of completion receive thoughtful feedback and rigorous assessment of work.
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Is a certificate of completion included with course registration?
- No. Certificates of completion come at an extra cost to the participant. We have separated the cost of certificates of completion from registration costs because some participants would prefer to pay less for access to the course materials only.
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I want to teach my GIS classes using Geograf.io Learn resources. How would I obtain a license to use these resources?
- University and other educational instructors or administrators are eligible to obtain access to Geograf.io Learn short courses at separately negotiated rates. We encourage instructors who are interested in teaching GIS using our resources to reach out to our team directly. We offer competitively priced site licenses as well as affordable per-student subscriptions that are easy to arrange for entire GIS courses. Our catalog of online GIS course resources far exceeds those that are available for public access as short courses, so we encourage any and all potential higher education partners to contact us.
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Do course registrations expire?
- Paid course registrations will typically expire 180 days after registration unless otherwise stated. Free course registrations are valid indefinitely.
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How to I obtain a certificate of completion?
- Certificates of completion can be obtained for all Geograf.io Learn short courses, including both free and paid courses. For all courses, certificates of completion are offered with an additional cost of $49 per module. This cost includes expert review of activities by Ph.D.-holding instructors as well as the issuance of a certificate of completion that can be validated online by trusted third parties. To earn a certificate of completion, just submit your activities for any given course on the course website, following all instructions specified in the course itself.
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How much do Geograf.io Learn short courses cost?
- Some Geograf.io Learn short courses are free, while others cost US $99 per module. For a short time after our launch, all short courses will be offered at a 50% discount, at a rate of only $49 per module. Certificates of completion are available at an additional cost of $49 per module. Some courses consist of only one module, and others consist of multiple modules and are priced accordingly. For the typical participant, one module corresponds to approximately five to ten hours of work, depending on the participant’s general level of computing proficiency.
Course Content and Structure
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What software do you teach?
- We at Geograf.io believe in the power of free and open source software. Our short courses teach participants to use the open source QGIS desktop GIS software platform, while also introducing concepts that are universal to desktop GIS. From many years of teaching GIS at the university level, our team knows and believes that students who learn how to use QGIS can easily make the transition to any commercial desktop GIS software with a modest investment of time in self-guided study.
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Do the courses contain any high-stakes tests/exams?
- No — all assessments are hands-on and practical activities involving the use of GIS software, and students will not be assessed on the basis of high-stakes multiple choice exams.
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What resources are available in Geograf.io Learn short courses?
- Geograf.io Learn short courses consist of a combination of instructional videos, activities, and links to external resources. Most courses consist of comprehensive video lectures and tutorials that provide direct instruction related to the processes needed to complete all practical activities associated with each course.