the application of web 2.0 technologies to the teaching of earth observation avril behan &...
TRANSCRIPT
The Application of Web 2.0 Technologies to the Teaching of
Earth Observation
Avril Behan & Frances Boylan
Dublin Institute of Technology
Presentation Content
• Context
• Project
– Motivation
– Implementation Detail
– Evaluation
• Future work
Context
• In 2002 WebCT first used by Dept. of SIS for delivery of e-learning course in Co-ordinate Reference Systems (developed with the Learning Technology Team)
• Fully accredited Continuing Professional Development course with ECTS points
• Delivered to students in:
– Ireland
– Cyprus
– Germany
– Korea
Context
• In the academic year 2003-2004 WebCT was used for 4th year students particularly for communications during dissertation
• In 2004-2005 WebCT rolled out to all students of the 4 year Geomatics BSc programme:
– For communications at year and programme levels
– By individual lecturers for material dissemination and communications
Project Motivation
The results of using WebCT for 2 years are:• Students
– very positive about the access to course materials– negative about modules that do not use WebCT
• Staff – Concerns about lack of attendance at classes– Uneasy about the lack of deep learning by some
students who do not engage in classes as a result of the easy availability of course notes
Attempted Improvement Measures
• Use of WebCT evaluation tools:
– Self test
– Quiz/Survey (created in Respondus)
• Inclusion of partial notes in WebCT with more content delivered in class that is available
Results of these Measures• Continued difficulty in producing deep learning by
students
• Quizzes and self-tests (paragraph format) require huge amounts of time for the provision of feedback to students when using a formative assessment model
• Each individual must be separately addressed and peer-learning is not facilitated
• Thus learning technologies outside of WebCT 4.1 were investigated
• Decision made to investigate the potential benefit of wikis (web-pages that multiple people can edit) as learning tools
What is Geomatics?• It involves the measurement and
management of data relating to the earth
• It encompasses the professional activities of:– Land & Hydrographic Surveying– Engineering & Mine Surveying– Remote Sensing– Geographic Information Systems (GIS)– Land Management
Module Selection Background
• In 2006 a new modular version of the Geomatics BSc began
• This included 3 joint modules which were delivered to students of the:– BSc in Geomatics– BSc in Spatial Planning– BSc in Environmental Management
• This resulted in a large class (for a technology programme) of 72 where individual feedback would be difficult
Introduction to Geomatics
• Introductory level overview, context setting & generation of excitement
• Assessed via Exam 75% and Coursework 25%
Components
• Spatial Data Applications
• Appreciation of Earth Observing Systems (EOS)
• Sustainable Land Management
Component Delivery & Structure
• Face-to-face lectures used to present background concepts related to: – the physics of remote measurement– historic and current sensors and platforms– applications for which the technologies are
used • Coursework marks: research & upload
to the wiki• Exam question (optional): based on
content from the final, completed wiki
Wiki & Preparation
• Wiki set up on pbwiki http://appreciationofeos.pbwiki.com/
• Simple site structure– 1 Welcome Page– 1 Sidebar where sensors are grouped by:
• Platform – airborne or spaceborne• Type – multispectral, superspectral, hyperspectral, radar,
panchromatic & frame
• Site access was public but password for changes was only made available to students taking the module
Investigation of an EO sensor
• Groups of 2 (from different cohorts)• Students were required to carry out
web-based research to answer a set of 10 questions describing, for their nominated sensor:– earth observing technology– data availability and costs– accuracy– a critical evaluation of 2 particular
applications of the sensor
9 questions
Items Provided to the Students• One page pre-loaded on the wiki as an
example• A template in MS Word containing the 10
questions and answers from the pre-prepared example with relevant html tagging
• A clear indication of the content that needed to be changed for each page
• A set of instructions on creating & editing pages in the wiki
• A link to the Wiki style guide & HTML development pages to facilitate variation in appearance
• A starter list of research sites
Template (Section)• All blue content to be replaced with
information on the assigned sensor
Instructions (Element 3 of 6)
General Outcomes• 10 students did not submit any content to the wiki
• Most students answered the questions on technology, data & accuracy competently
• 4 groups provided “critical analysis” of applications of the sensor; the rest either ignored the question or simply listed a website
• No groups edited the standard template in any way – except by accident
• Approximately 1/3 of the students failed the Appreciation of EOS component of the exam which could easily have been passed by integrating the researched material
Feedback - Groups• Groups were composed of 2 students
studying different programmes
• With the exception of 2 other modules the groups were differently timetabled and did not have much contact
• While Geomatics students were using WebCT for approximately 80% of their modules, SP and EM students only used WebCT for 2 joint modules– Thus WebCT communications tools could not
automatically be effectively used to coordinate research within groups; more encouragement needed
Feedback - Resources
• The class size was very large (72 students) for a technology-intensive module
• This limited the amount of support that could be given via student-lecturer contact
• Better usage of communications tools by the lecturer, or the introduction of a second lecturer to support laboratory-based sessions, could have reduced this problem
Feedback - Duration
• The duration of the project was very short – 4 weeks
• This prohibited students from becoming fully involved with either the content research or the wiki development
• The exercise became one of uploading content
• Editing and correction of the wiki content was carried out by the lecturer rather than by the students – which would probably have resulted in deeper learning
Suggestions for Future Development• Longer project – at least 1 semester long
• Students would be given the opportunity to improve their initial submissions to the wiki after discussion in groups and with the lecturer
• More than one investigation task enabling students to:
– Learn from the initial experience
– Take ownership of the wiki – including through variations in design and structure as appropriate
– Improve the quality of the resultant wiki making it a useful tool for research in later modules
– Integrate the final wiki into their end-of-year electronic portfolio
Stage 2 of the Project
• Wikis will be further integrated with WebCT 6 CE
• Other Web 2.0 tools such as social bookmarks and social citation will be evaluated and included
• Student feedback will be more comprehensively collected enabling better evaluation of success in student learning
• The web-based tools will be combined with group work, problem-solving sessions, discussions & presentations in a blended-learning environment
Thank You