Managing, organising and sharing fine-grained data in the spatial design disciplines – an evaluation of a GeoNode prototype

Abstract

Geospatial data at a fine-grained scale is commonly collected by researchers and university students in the spatial design disciplines, but is seldom available, accessible and usable for purposes other than the specific study. For example, during an architectural studio, the students store and save their data on their desktop PC or on Google Drive, which they share with other students. However, once the students have completed their design projects, the data is no longer maintained and often deleted. Not only is this way of working with data a challenge for organising, managing and sharing among students, but the data is also lost for any future studies. The question then arises as to how the students and the lecturers can effectively and efficiently organise, manage and share fine-grained data to get the best possible use out of the student collection efforts? First, the functional and non-functional requirements for a solution were specified. Based on a review of literature, there are tools for data collection, software packages for analysing spatial data, and portals for sharing spatial data, but none of these tools are directed at organising and managing spatial data in an educational context. After reviewing possible tools, a prototype for managing, organising and sharing fine-grained data was developed in GeoNode, and its use was evaluated in two architectural studios. While the prototype met all requirements, the students did not necessarily use it as intended and to its fullest potential. Training improved this and should therefore be done before any future deployment of the solution. In further work, the prototype could be improved so as to handle additional data types and to allow lecturers to monitor and guide student activities.