Revisiting the Choice of GIS Software to Implement Educational Programs at University

Abstract

The article analyzes the issue of choosing geoinformation systems (GIS) software to implement essential professional educational programs at university. As a basis for the choice, the sufficiency of software characteristics to develop professional expertise in the scope of geoinformation systems in graduates has been adopted. The following choice procedure has been offered: 1) specification of the requirements to graduates' professional expertise based on the analysis of the Federal State Education Standards (FSES), professional standards and requirements of potential employers; 2) analysis of the GIS software characteristics in terms of possibility to implement the requirements to expertise; 3) establishment of compliance between the requirements to expertise and software characteristics and the software options on offer; 4) the choice of the software. The procedure has been tested during the implementation of essential professional educational programs in the scope of Geology, Information Systems and Technologies, and Applied Geodesy in the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Engineering of Industrial University of Tyumen. A conclusion about the viability of joint use of proprietary and open-source software in educational process has been made. The proposed approach to the choice can be extended to applied information technologies of any thematic focus.