Education (Case Study)

How smart classrooms are being established and maintained in 42,000 schools with the help of Mapbis specially designed GIS-based data environment

Client:The FATIH educational technology project, sponsored by the government of Turkey

Challenge: To monitor distribution, use, and maintenance of tablet computers and other infrastructure
delivered to 42,000 schools

Solution: Mapbis scalable GIS data environment, synthesizing all data into an instantly updatable system providing easy monitoring, analyses and planning

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FATIH GIS-BASED INVENTORY PROJECT:

General Directorate of Innovation and Education Technologies

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The modern education system is affected by changes in technology. In Turkey, the Ministry of Education wants to adapt to these new technologies. The Ministry made tenders and got intelligent boards, tablets and built infrastructure for these.

Obtaining and distributing all these systems throughout a large country like Turkey is not so easy. This FATIH GIS Project aims to monitor the whole infrastructure, schools with locations, registration of hardware in each school, logistics, and life cycle management of this huge system.

The Movement of Enhancing Opportunities and Improving Technology, known in Turkey by the acronym FATIH, is among the most significant educational investments in the history of the country. The FATIH project proposes that the Smart Class be put into practice in all schools around Turkey. Through the Fatih project, 42,000 schools and 570,000 classes will be equipped with the latest information technologies and will be transformed into computerized classes.

Turkey has initiated the FATIH project with the aim of providing equal opportunities in education and improving technology in schools for the efficient use of ICT tools in the learning-teaching processes by appealing to more sensory organs in preschool, primary and secondary education through providing tablets and LCD Interactive boards. In-service education for teachers, transformation procedures, and educational e-content are going to be formed in accordance with the current teaching programs. Among many other targets, The GIS project aims toward:

  • Providing equipment and software infrastructure
  • Conscious, reliable, manageable and measurable ICT use
  • School, region, district and province based comparisons for monitoring via the map status, effects and changes seen in the project

Mapbis provided a street level map database, checked and updated with new school locations on the map, and developed software for monitoring.

In the FATAH project, thousands of smart classes have been created. The primary need was to locate all schools on the map. The amounts of fiber optic cable networks needed to connect these schools were calculated by using existing coverage and map analysis.

School addresses, numbers of classes, existing devices and new devices to be installed, dates of installation and other essential data are monitored via custom-designed GIS applications.

Numbers of students, teachers, classrooms and labs, tablets, and smart blackboards were reported in the list and on the map. Also custom query and analysis functions were created.

Demand maps and installation status maps were prepared.

The system is open for the entry of new schools and devices. Extension of the system is possible.

  • All schools listed under the Ministry of National Education were mapped. All the students, teachers and inventories can be monitored on the map.
  • A map-based decision support system was created, and the number of students or number of classes per number of devices supplied can be compared and shown on the map to provide an optimum solution, and a monitoring system is also provided.
  • Logistic support and distribution of devices have become easier with Mapbis’ solutions custom designed for the FATIH project.

YEGITEK, the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Innovation and Education Technologies, works for utilizing optimum technology for 60 years. It does research studies for changes and improvements in the education technologies both in the world and in Turkey.

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Technology Used

Oracle as a Spatial Database

MapInfo Professional is the leading Desktop GIS solution

MapXtreme is the powerful web-based GIS application software development kit

Google Earth Enterprise 3D/2D Web and Desktop based map display and analysis (SDK)

MapXtreme is the leading software development kit (SDK) for integrating location intelligence with existing business systems. It allows developers to build custom mapping applications, provide tailored views of geographic data and automate and augment business processes

MapXtreme powerful spatial capabilities are geared toward solving real business problems, with a powerful, user-friendly feature set. Flexible deployment options include both desktop and web from a single SD