Using WICID in the classroom

• Examples typical of the assignments that BA Geography undergraduates in their final year who would have already had some training in Excel and MapInfo desktop GIS

• Experience suggests that interface is relatively easy to use but students have to put considerable effort into deciding which data sets are required for which origins and destinations; needs careful consideration of the phenomenon that they are studying and judgements about spatial scale that is appropriate

• Very easy to generate large quantities of data and students learn quickly that it is often necessary to aggregate and summarise this information

• Important to understand characteristics and shortcomings of data

• WICID is a very useful example for teaching of students about relational databases, metadata, customised web-based databases with analytical and mapping facilities and planning support systems