Geotechnologies Education in Secondary Schools in the United Arab Emirates
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Bualhamam, M.
1UAE UNIVERSITY Email: mbualhamam@uaeu.ac.ae
Abstract
Since 1970, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. The education strategy of the country aims to introduce the latest information technology at all schools levels. Integrating geotechnologies concepts into schools is very important to teach students relevant skills in spatial analysis, reasoning, and data processing. This paper reviews the current status of the secondary school system in the UAE and the prospects for learning about geotechnologies, followed by case study that illustrates how geotechnologies is used by one secondary school. The opportunities, challenges and obstacles associated with incorporating geotechnologies into UAE secondary schools are then presented. Schools in the UAE are starting to introduce computers in their classes, which will have a direct impact on geotechnologies education. Integrating geotechnologies concepts into secondary education is very important to teach students relevant skills in spatial analysis, reasoning and data processing. The new curricula of geography and geology in 10th grade contain a broad range of topics in geotechnologies. The textbook of geography include: principles of cartography, principles of aerial photography, concept of scale of images, various formats of data in computers, concept of resolution in satellite images, introduction to Global Positioning System (GPS) and general concepts of GIS and using different layers of data for GIS analyses along with computer operations and fieldwork. The textbook for geology includes: An introduction to different sensors, electromagnetic radiation and spectrum, atmospheric effects, and spectral behavior of different objects on earth's surface. These topics are the first step to implementing geotechnologies in schools in the UAE and teaching students fundamental information about this technology, but the Ministry of Education will need to define geotechnologies materials and identify strategies for teaching about geotechnologies to enhance the introductory implementation of geotechnologies. Many teachers will not begin to consider using geotechnologies software if there are not clearly defined materials available. Also, many geotechnologies conferences in the UAE try to address the awareness and the need for geotechnologies among the students and how it is going to help them in their day to day lives. The First Geotechnologies Students Forum was organized by Dubai Municipality in cooperation with the Ministry of Education during Map Middle East 2006 conference, in which 60 students in the age group of 12-15 from 12 secondary schools in the UAE participated. The conference provided the participants first-hand experience with map making and data collection, in addition to presentations by international experts in the field. The same geotechnologies students participated in the Map Middle East conferences in 2007, 2008 and 2009 (www.geopedia.ae). These forums aim at spreading awareness and setting up a sound foundation of geospatial science and technologies by educating future generations.
Keywords
geotechnologies; education; UAE