This presentation shares the experience of designing and delivering a university course centered on Scaffolded Project-Based Learning (SPL) in the context of cloud-based open-source GIS. Drawing from Cloud-based Open-source GIS Solutions at RMIT University, the session highlights how SPL can be used to equip students with both foundational geospatial knowledge and cutting-edge technical skills, aligning their learning with the demands of a rapidly evolving geospatial industry.

Cloud-based, open-source GIS represents an emerging paradigm in geospatial science. It goes beyond teaching students to operate individual tools by emphasizing GIS as a system for spatial thinking and decision-making. Through the SPL framework, students are guided from being tool users to becoming system designers and tool builders. The course structure integrates theory, new technologies, and iterative, scaffolded practice to help students design cloud-native geospatial solutions to real-world challenges.

At the core of the course is a semester-long, individual project in which students conceptualize, develop, and deploy a functional GIS application. These projects are not just technical exercises—they are opportunities to design systems that perform spatial analysis, support decision-making, and address practical challenges such as urban heat islands, flooding, environmental degradation, and spatial inequality. Students use open-source tools and platforms such as PostGIS, QGIS, GitHub, Cesium Ion, Earth Engine Apps, Mapbox, Leaflet, and GeoAI frameworks, while learning deployment strategies using cloud infrastructure and serverless technologies.

The SPL pedagogy ensures students build confidence and competence through structured phases:

Early-stage assignments introduce essential tools, spatial data formats, and cloud workflows;

Mid-semester milestones guide system architecture, backend/frontend integration, and data sourcing;

Peer feedback and mentoring support project refinement and encourage collaborative learning.

This pedagogical strategy fosters not only technical fluency but also critical thinking about how to design geospatial systems that are scalable, interoperable, and user-focused. It reinforces the understanding that spatial technologies are most powerful when they are purposefully assembled to solve complex problems—something increasingly demanded by industry, government, and community sectors.

The presentation will feature lightning talks by five students whose applications reflect creativity, technical rigor, and engagement with real-world issues. While the applications are in progress, each talk will emphasize the problem addressed, the open-source stack used, and the design decisions made. This format aims to share process over product—highlighting learning outcomes, problem-solving strategies, and reflections on using open-source technologies in a cloud-native environment.

Additionally, this session will present a broader reflection on how scaffolded project-based learning can transform geospatial education. It will explore questions such as:

How can SPL help students move from passive users to active developers of spatial solutions?

What competencies are most critical for graduates entering cloud-native geospatial workforces?

How can open-source and academic communities better support each other in this transition?

Preliminary evaluations of the course indicate that this approach promotes student engagement, deepens understanding of geospatial systems architecture, and encourages students to see themselves as contributors to the open-source ecosystem. Several students have expressed interest in continuing their projects post-course or using them as part of a professional portfolio.

Real-world case studies—including the development of virtual flooding digital twins and visualizations for climate resilience—illustrate the alignment between classroom learning and industry needs. These examples demonstrate how SPL, combined with cloud-native open-source GIS, offers a scalable and adaptable model for preparing students to work at the intersection of spatial science, digital technologies, and societal challenges.

By sharing the design, philosophy, and outcomes of this course, the presentation aims to contribute to broader discussions on how to teach the next generation of geospatial professionals in ways that are future-ready, open, and grounded in systems thinking. It will be of particular interest to educators, developers, curriculum designers, and anyone engaged in building capacity in the FOSS4G ecosystem.