1. The Application of Web 2.0 Technologies to the Teaching of Earth Observation Avril Behan & Frances Boylan Dublin Institute of Technology avril.behan@dit.ie & frances.boylan@dit.ie

2. Presentation Content Context Project –Motivation –Implementation Detail –Evaluation Future work

3. 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

4. Context In the academic year 2003-2004 WebCT was used for 4 th 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Wiki & Preparation Wiki set up on pbwiki http://appreciationofeos.pbwiki.com/ 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

13. Appreciation of EOS Wiki http://appreciationofeos.pbwiki.com

14. 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

15. 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

16. Template (Section) All blue content to be replaced with information on the assigned sensor

17. Instructions (Element 3 of 6)

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. Thank You