Experiences of using mobile technologies and virtual field tours in Physical Geography: implications for hydrology education

Abstract. Education in hydrology is changing rapidly due to diversification of students, emergent major scientific and practical challenges that our discipline must engage with, shifting pedagogic ideas and higher education environments, the need for students to develop new discipline specific and transferrable skills, and the advent of innovative technologies for learning and teaching. This paper focuses on new technologies in the context of learning and teaching in Physical Geography and reflects on the implications of our experiences for education in hydrology. We evaluate the experience of designing and trialling novel mobile technology-based field exercises and a virtual field tour for a Year 1 undergraduate Physical Geography module at a UK university. The new exercises are based on using and obtaining spatial data, operation of meteorological equipment (explained using an interactive DVD), and include introductions to global positioning systems (GPS) and geographical information systems (GIS). The technology and exercises were well received in a pilot study and subsequent rolling-out to the full student cohort (∼150 students). A statistically significant improvement in marks was observed following the redesign. Although the students enjoyed using mobile technology, the increased interactivity and opportunity for peer learning were considered to be the primary benefits by students. This is reinforced further by student preference for the new interactive virtual field tour over the previous "show-and-tell" field exercise. Despite the new exercises having many advantages, exercise development was not trivial due to the high start-up costs, the need for provision of sufficient technical support and the relative difficulty of making year-to-year changes (to the virtual field tour in particular). Our experiences are highly relevant to the implementation of novel learning and teaching technologies in hydrology education.

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Experiences of using mobile technologies and virtual fieldtrips in Physical Geography: implications for hydrology education

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-8-11115-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 11115-11130

Author(s):

D. G. Kingston ◽

W. J. Eastwood ◽

P. I. Jones ◽

R. Johnson ◽

S. Marshall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mobile Technology ◽

New Technologies ◽

Physical Geography ◽

Field Trip ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Positioning Systems ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Virtual Field ◽

Virtual Field Trip

Abstract. Education in hydrology is changing rapidly due to diversification of students, emergent major scientific and practical challenges that our discipline must engage with, shifting pedagogic ideas and higher education environments, the need for students to develop new discipline specific and transferrable skills, and the advent of innovative technologies for learning and teaching. This paper focuses on new technologies in the context of learning and teaching in Physical Geography and reflects on the implications of our experiences for education in hydrology. We evaluate the experience of designing and trialling novel mobile technology-based field exercises and a virtual field trip for a Year 1 undergraduate Physical Geography module at a UK university. The new exercises are based on using and obtaining spatial data, operation of meteorological equipment (explained using an interactive DVD), and include introductions to global positioning systems (GPS) and geographical information systems (GIS). The technology and exercises were well received in a pilot study and subsequent rolling-out to the full student cohort (∼150 students). A statistically significant improvement in marks was observed following the redesign. Although the students enjoyed using mobile technology, the increased interactivity and opportunity for peer learning were considered to be the primary benefits by students. This is reinforced further by student preference for the new interactive virtual field trip over the previous "show-and-tell" field exercise. Despite the new exercises having many advantages, exercise development was not trivial due to the high start-up costs, the need for provision of sufficient technical support and the relative difficulty of making year-to-year changes (to the virtual field trip in particular). We believe our experiences are directly relevant to the implementation of such novel learning and teaching technologies in hydrology education.

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The Use of ICTs to Teach Geography in the Classroom: Application examples for Foundation ‐ Grade 6

Information Technology Education and Society ◽

10.7459/ites/17.2.03 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 23-49

Author(s):

Katrina Scolaro

Keyword(s):

Preservice Teachers ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

New Technologies ◽

Pedagogical Practices ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Australian Curriculum ◽

Positioning Systems ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Effective Learning ◽

Teachers And Students

The purpose of this article is to analyse the technologies used in current pedagogical practices in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) classroom, in particular geography. It is argued that supporting children to be digitally literate is one of the keys to effective learning in the 21st Century. This article is based on potential practical applications of new technologies and ICTs, and linking them to the Australian Curriculum: Geography. As a preservice teacher, how can I best integrate the use of ICTs and use them to responsibility to enhance the learning of my future students? What quality and variety of ICT resources are available to us, as preservice teachers that will encourage creativity and motivate students and cater for all types of learners in the classroom? Fast, interactive and multimodal ICTs can assist teachers and students to explore the exciting ‘big ideas’ in the HASS classroom and with ICTs including Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems all around us, it makes for new and innovative pedagogy.

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PRECISION FARMING IN FLORICULTURE

International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH ◽

10.29121/granthaalayah.v9.i1.2021.2871 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 75-77

Author(s):

Manas Mandal ◽

Bappa Paramanik ◽

Anamay Sarkar ◽

Debasis Mahata

Keyword(s):

High Speed ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

New Technologies ◽

Precision Farming ◽

Modern Technology ◽

Vital Role ◽

Production Costs ◽

Aerial Images ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Positioning Systems

Precision farming is a science base modern technology which provided management concept based on observation and response to intra-field variations. New technologies such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS), sensors, satellites or aerial images and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are utilized to assess and analyse variations in agricultural and horticultural production. In this technology have two primary goals that are (i) optimum return (ii) preserving resource. Wireless Sensor Networks has crucial role to management of water resources, to assess the optimum point of harvesting, to estimate fertilizer requirements and to predict crop performance more accurately, disease and pest hazard also. Sensors use to precision farming technology in horticulture, which increasing productivity, decreasing production costs and minimizing the environmental impact of farming. Though precision farming has vital role in Agriculture and Horticulture sector but, no so popular due to high cost of technology and need high speed internet facility.

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KEEPING UP WITH TECHNOLOGY—OR CAN WE?

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1997-1-507 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 1997 (1) ◽

pp. 507-508

Author(s):

Gary J. Stankovich

Keyword(s):

Technology Implementation ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

New Technologies ◽

New Technology ◽

Computer Software ◽

Satellite Communications ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Positioning Systems ◽

Effective Selection ◽

Practical Experiences

ABSTRACT Is technology developing faster than it can be effectively used and managed in oil spill planning and response? Satellite communications, global positioning systems (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS), and advanced spill management computer software, to name a few technologies, are currently available to the response community—and more is on the way. This paper will discuss some successes and pitfalls of new technology implementation in emergency management teams. Questions regarding how technology is selected, tested, and implemented will be raised from the perspective of a purchaser or implementer rather than that of a technology developer or provider. Discussion will also include the practical experiences of a spill management team in its attempts to use some of the latest technologies. Finally, suggestions that may lead to more practical and effective selection and use of new technologies are presented.

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A Theoretical Proposition for Spatial Data Infrastructure On-Going Improvement

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information ◽

10.3390/ijgi10010009 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 9

Author(s):

Lopang Maphale ◽

Julian L. Smit

Keyword(s):

Spatial Data ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Spatial Data Infrastructure ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Theory Of Constraints ◽

African Countries ◽

Geospatial Information ◽

Data Infrastructure ◽

Positioning Systems

The past three decades have seen technology become ubiquitous and impact on many fields academically and in professional practice. In geo-information, data acquisition and management have manifested through technologies such as global positioning systems, remote sensing, geographical information systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and improved photogrammetric processes. With all these improved technological capabilities, geospatial data collection, processing and dissemination have become possible in greater proportions. To reap from this technological boom, the geospatial information community has come up with a pervasive and network enabling concept called spatial data infrastructure (SDI). Over the years, several countries have embraced the SDI concept to shape policy, build and share geospatial information resources. Some levels of successes have been reported in number of developed countries while developing countries have struggled. For instance, in 2010, SDI state of play assessment results of nine African countries averaged 30.70 over 56 or 0.55 while the SDI readiness index of the same countries averaged 0.50 on an index scale of 0 to 1 in 2016. The 2010 and 2016 assessments concluded that in African countries, SDI development was slow. To address the problem of slow SDI development in Africa, this paper proposes an on-going improvement theoretical approach anchored on the theory of constraints.

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A Geospatial database of gastric cancer patients and associated potential risk factors including lifestyle and air pollution

BMC Research Notes ◽

10.1186/s13104-021-05506-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Fatemeh Hashemi Amin ◽

Mahtab Ghaemi ◽

Sayyed Mostafa Mostafavi ◽

Ladan Goshayeshi ◽

Khadijeh Rezaei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Gastric Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Spatial Data ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

Age Groups ◽

Geographical Location ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Point Feature

Abstract Objectives Gastric cancer (GC) is a multifactorial disease and the fifth most frequent diagnosed cancer worldwide. It accounts for one third of cancer-related mortalities. Geospatial analysis using geographical information systems (GIS) can provide an efficient solution to identify spatial disparities associated with GC. As such, GIS enables policymakers to control cancer in a better way and identify the regions where interventions are needed. This study aims to publish a comprehensive dataset, which was applied to conduct a spatial analysis of GC patients in the city of Mashhad, Iran. Data description We provide a personal geodatabase, a Microsoft Access database that can store, query, and manage both spatial and non-spatial data, which contains four feature classes. “Male_Stomach_Cancer_Patients” and “Female_Stomach_Cancer_Patients” are point feature classes, which show the age and geographical location of 1156 GC cancer patients diagnosed between 2014 and 2017. “Air_Polution_Mashhad” is another point feature class that reveals the amount of six air pollutants, which was taken from Mashhad Environmental Pollutants Monitoring Center between 2017 and 2018. Finally, “Stomach_Cancer_and_Risk_Factors” is a polygon feature class of neighborhood division of Mashhad, consisting of contributor risk factors including dietary habits, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index and population by age groups for all 165 city neighborhoods.

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A Geographical Information System (GIS) study of Triassic vertebrate biochronology

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s001675680500083x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 142 (4) ◽

pp. 327-354 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

E. J. RAYFIELD ◽

P. M. BARRETT ◽

R. A. McDONNELL ◽

K. J. WILLIS

Keyword(s):

Spatial Data ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

Western Europe ◽

Temporal Distribution ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Late Triassic ◽

Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽

Potential Index ◽

The Stability ◽

Land Vertebrate

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been applied extensively to analyse spatial data relating to varied environmental issues, but have not so far been used to address biostratigraphical or macroevolutionary questions over extended spatial and temporal scales. Here, we use GIS techniques to test the stability, validity and utility of proposed Middle and Late Triassic ‘Land Vertebrate Faunachrons’ (LVFs), a global biostratigraphical framework based upon terrestrial/freshwater tetrapod occurrences. A database of tetrapod and megafloral localities was constructed for North America and Western Europe that also incorporated information on relevant palaeoenvironmental variables. This database was subjected to various spatial analysis techniques. Our GIS analysis found support at a global level for Eocyclotosaurus as an Anisian index taxon and probably Aetosaurus as a Norian indicator. Other tetrapod taxa are useful biostratigraphical/biochronological markers on a regional basis, such as Longosuchus and Doswellia for Late Carnian time. Other potential index fossils are hampered, however, by taxonomic instability (Mastodonsaurus, Metoposaurus, Typothorax, Paleorhinus, Pseudopalatus, Redondasaurus, Redondasuchus) and/or are not clearly restricted in temporal distribution (Paleorhinus, Angistorhinus, Stagonolepis, Metoposaurus and Rutiodon). This leads to instability in LVF diagnosis. We found only in the western Northern Hemisphere is there some evidence for an Anisian–Ladinian biochronological unit amalgamating the Perovkan and Berdyankian LVFs, and a possible late Carnian unit integrating the Otischalkian and Adamanian.Megaplants are generally not useful for biostratigraphical correlation in the Middle and Upper Triassic of the study area, but there is some evidence for a Carnian-age floral assemblage that corresponds to the combined Otischalkian and Adamanian LVFs. Environmental biases do not appear to strongly affect the spatial distribution of either the tetrapods or megaplants that have been proposed as index taxa in biostratigraphical schemes, though several examples of apparent environmental bias were detected by the analysis. Consequently, we argue that further revision and refinement of Middle and Late Triassic LVFs is needed before they can be used to support global or multi-regional biostratigraphical correlations. Caution should therefore be exercised when using the current scheme as a platform for macroevolutionary or palaeoecological hypotheses. Finally, this study demonstrates the potential of GIS as a powerful tool for tackling palaeontological questions over extended timescales.

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Optimal Site Selection for Sittinga Solar Park using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

10.5194/gi-2016-4 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Andreas Georgiou ◽

Dimitrios Skarlatos

Keyword(s):

Spatial Data ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

Power Plants ◽

Solar Power ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Optimal Placement ◽

Equal Weight ◽

Analysis Tool ◽

Study Region ◽

Weighting Schemes

Abstract. Among the renewable powers sources, solar is rapidly becoming popular being inexhaustible, clean, and dependable. It is also becoming more efficient since the photovoltaic solar cells' power conversion efficiency is rising. Following these trends, solar power will become more affordable in years to come and considerable investments are to be expected. Despite the size of solar plants, the sitting procedure is a crucial factor for their efficiency and financial viability. Many aspects rule such decision; legal, environmental, technical, and financial to name some. This paper describes a general integrated framework to evaluate land suitability for the optimal placement of photovoltaic solar power plants, which is based on a combination of a Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing techniques and multi-criteria decision making methods. An application of the proposed framework for Limassol District in Cyprus is further illustrated. The combination of GIS and multi-criteria methods, consist an excellent analysis tool that creates an extensive database of spatial and non spatial data that will be used to simplify problems, to solve and promote the use of multiple criteria. A set of environmental, economic, social and technical constrains based on recent Cypriot legislation, European's Union policies and experts' advices, identifies the potential sites for solar park installation. The pair-wise comparison method in the context of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to estimate the criteria weights in order to establish their relative importance in site evaluation. In addition, four different methods to combine information layers and check their sensitivity were used. The first considered all the criteria as being equally important and assign them equal weight, while the others grouped the criteria and graded them according to their objective perceived importance. The overall suitability of the study region for sitting solar park is appraised through the summation rule. Strict application of the framework depicts 3.0 % of the study region scoring best suitability index for solar resource exploitation, hence minimizing risk of a potential investment. However, using different weighting schemes for criteria, suitable areas may reach up to 83 % of the study region. The suggested methodological framework applied can be easily utilized by potential investors and renewable energy developers, through a front end web based application with proper GUI for personalized weighting schemes.

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Understanding Accessibility

Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering - Using Decision Support Systems for Transportation Planning Efficiency ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8648-9.ch009 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 223-257

Author(s):

Kivanc Ertugay ◽

Sebnem H. Duzgun

Keyword(s):

Spatial Data ◽

Catchment Area ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Data Sets ◽

Location Allocation ◽

Modeling Process ◽

Key Variables ◽

Spatial Data Sets ◽

Significant Support

Accessibility measures are generally concerned with equity and a better distribution of services in a territory and can be accepted as key variables for supporting supply/demand, location/allocation and service/catchment area related planning policies and strategies at national, regional, and local levels. Since accessibility measures need organization of huge and complex spatial data sets, accessibility modeling often lends itself to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for analysis and presentation. Since numerous accessibility measures and modeling techniques ranging from simple to sophisticated can be found in the literature, this work aim to provide an overview of the theoretical framework and relevant background about GIS-based accessibility modeling process. The results could provide a significant support for the decision makers who are supposed to deal with transportation planning, accessibility modeling, location/allocation and service/catchment area related issues.

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