A new fully online advanced certificate program offered by Long Island University (LIU) explores the development of spatially enabled smartphone and tablet apps—their creation, their implementation and their introduction to the mass market.

The one-year 12-credit Advanced Certificate in Mobile GIS Applications Development, approved by the New York State Education Department, trains students to create mobile applications for iOS and Android devices. Each class is offered online during a 10-week term, with classes limited to 20 students to ensure frequent and personal interaction among faculty and students. The two required courses are Introduction to GIS and Introduction to Computer Programming. Students learn the key concepts, technologies and skills at the intersection of these growing fields that they will later use to develop geospatial apps. Students complete the program by taking two of three elective courses, Mobile GIS Applications Development for iOS, Mobile GIS Applications Development for Android, and Geographic Web Application Development. In these courses, students will use iOS and Android software development kits to create their own apps.

Students with sufficient background in GIS or computer science may, with the Directors’ approval, place out of one of the two required courses and complete all three elective courses to earn the certificate. Faculty teaching in the program have extensive experience with online education, GIS, computer programming and applications development. Dr. Patrick Kennelly is an associate professor at LIU Post (formerly the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University), and teaches in the Penn State University online Master’s of GIS program. Dr. Christopher League is an associate professor at LIU Brooklyn, and helped todesign a “blended” (half online/half face-to-face) Master’s of Computer Programming degree. App development courses will be taught by Gavi Narra and Kiichi Takeuchi, both senior employees of LIU’s Information Technology Department, founders of ObjectGraph (a company that has developed scores of smartphone and tablet apps), and adjunct professors of computer science at LIU Brooklyn. Courses begin in June 2012 and applications are currently being accepted.

For more information, email gis@liu.edu or visit www.liu.edu/online/gis.