Creating Our Own Digital Landscape
Last term we spent quite a bit of time looking at various forms and types of digital landscapes. We now understand how varied and different these can be, but also how a digital landscape creates an environment in which people can interact.
This term, we are going to combine your skills, as well as learn new skills to develop our own digital landscape. I have been interested in some time in mapping (we all know that I am a bit of a Geography nut) and the use of online digital mapping tools to create landscapes. A good friend of mine works at the Melbourne City Council and she is currently working to develop an online, mapping tool to show the ever changing digital landscape of graffiti in the city. I thought this would also be a great activity for us to be involved in.
The major assessment task for this term is Group Inquiry Project. You will be assessed according to your ability to work in a group, as well as what you produce individually. The final product that you put together at the end of the term will be worth 50% of your final mark. This product will include a website, documentary and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) maps (with hyperlinked information) of major graffiti points in the CBD. (Including historical regions).
Before we begin working on this project, we will complete 2 weeks of background research. This will be on both the origins and reasons for graffiti, and its importance in the Melbourne CBD, as well as what GIS is and how it works. This week we will specifically look at what GIS is, how it is used and why it is considered such an important digital landscape.
Your Task
After watching a little presentation I have put together, you will need to conduct your own research on GIS. To do this, you are going to read through and play some of the games on Mapzone. Mapzone is a website dedicated to explaining how GIS works and provides information on some of the career that use it everyday to solve problems. As you run through the site, answer the following questions:
1. What is GIS?
2. How does it work?
3. What is raster data?
4. What is vector data?
5. How can GIS be used to solve problems?
Once you have completed these questions, complete at least three of the GIS missions.
