GeoPad: Information Technology for Field-based Education

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Geology (42) Recent innovations in information technology and advancements in Geographic Information System software enable in-the-field, real-time access to data collection, analysis and visualization. The GeoPad project involves a field-durable TabletPC equipped with wireless networking, GPS receiver, digital camera, voice-recognition and GIS software. Following a successful study exploring the potential benefits of GeoPad, this project is fully integrating the use of GeoPads into field courses and upper-level undergraduate geology courses. GeoPad technology and integrated curriculum content are enhancing spatial reasoning skills by affording students powerful data visualization, analysis and interpretation tools; enriching field trip experiences by providing access to supplemental information in support of interactive discussions of geologic observations; and enhancing field-based exercises by supporting real-time, distributed, collaborative data collection and analysis, enabling students to interpret data and observations as a field experiment unfolds. Through identifying and testing a robust platform for field investigations, the GeoPad project and its results are having impacts beyond the geosciences into other field- or map based disciplines.