Understanding Map Design in the Context of a Massive Open Online Course in Cartography
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Nelson, J.; 2Robinson, A.
1PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY Email: jkn128@psu.edu
2PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY Email: acr181@psu.edu
Abstract
In this paper, we report on analysis of more than one thousand maps created in Maps and the Geospatial Revolution, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offered by the Pennsylvania State University (led by the second author) in 2014. This course was developed in the context of recent advancements in spatial data collection, geographic information systems, and interactive mapping technologies. These advancements have revolutionized the ways in which we interact with, and make sense of, spatial information. More maps are viewed, created, and used than ever before. Google Maps, for example, is visited as many as 1 billion times a day. As of October 2014, about two million websites were embedding Google Maps, 38,856 embedding Bing Maps, and smaller mapping platforms such as Map Box, Open Street Map, and ESRI ArcGIS were being embedded with increasing frequency. Traditional cartographic education cannot reach all of today’s mapmakers and consumers; however, it is more important now than ever. A core objective in the ICA-organized International Map Year of 2015 is educating society on the proper use of geographic information, and ensuring “that every global inhabitant has access to maps and to geographic information, and that maps and geographic information can be easily retrieved and used.” The uninformed or misuse of spatial data and maps has implications for everything for which place matters. Distance education approaches, including MOOCs provide opportunities to engage a large and diverse learner cohort. The Maps MOOC has been offered twice, with a third offering scheduled for 2015. Over 73,000 students have enrolled in the course from 200+ countries. Students learn the fundamentals of geospatial technology and cartographic design; discuss topics like locational privacy and why “spatial is special”; and learn to make and share maps with each other. A major challenge in asynchronous, non-traditional cartographic learning environments is avoiding the trap of designing course materials and activities based on constantly changing mapping technologies. The course adapts to this challenge by focusing the majority of content on cartographic theory and current events, leaving the smallest fraction to software-driven labs. In the final week of this MOOC, students are tasked with making maps to tell stories. They are given cartographic license to map any topic using any data and tools. Mapping software, its popularity, and ease of use influence map aesthetics and design processes. The interfaces and tools of spatial media authoring software shape the current cartographic state-of-the-art (and science). In this paper, we explore the emerging, interdisciplinary field of software studies where methods and theory from the digital humanities are integrated with computational perspectives on software to understand the role of technology in guiding, in this case, ever evolving cartographic practices. In a case study exploration of these evolving cartographic trends, we analyze 1,243 student map submissions from the second Maps MOOC course offering. These maps are coded based on the software used to create them, and we computationally extract visual attributes such as median hue, brightness, and saturation from this collection of map images. We plot the maps in two-dimensional spaces, arranging them based on the tools used to design them and their various visual characteristics. The resulting visualizations provide snapshots of global structures of the mediums used to generate cartographic products, and can help us understand students’ individual design choices from an assignment corpus that is too large for any single instructor to manually evaluate. Our analysis offers a unique evaluation approach to large map collections, assesses the extent to which students integrate theoretical concepts with current mapping software, and can help guide future course offerings in designing content relevant to global cartographic aesthetics and demand.
Keywords
map design; massive open online course; software studies