International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B6. Istanbul 2004
group, which answer his or her questions. The “Virtual
Campus" of the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.
(ESRI), is an example of such educational material (see also the
Web addresses of the mentioned institutions under references).
2. GENERAL CONCEPTS IN DISTANCE LEARNING
There are different components, which belong to distance
learning: Contents of the courses, applied pedagogy (including
the courseware and the assessment) and technology.
2.1 Contents
The topics to be taught will mainly be from new fields. The
enormous changes in photogrammetry and remote sensing give
rise to many new topics to be learnt, and the gained knowledge
can then hopefully be used at work. The integration within
geographic information technologies has created many new job
opportunities. A new name for the whole field of knowledge
was created: Imaging and geo-spatial information science and
technologies. The learning about that field can be at a broad
level or in depth.
2.2 Pedagogy
E-learning requires first of all good course material.
Furthermore, short reaction times to the participants” questions
and answers are expected. A strict scheduling of the work with
the course material is helpful. The participant must get the
feeling that he is not lost in the virtual space and that he makes
progress. Clearly defined goals and continuous feedback are
very important to his or her motivation. The social components
have to be taken into account too. The assessment methods and
the quality control are also important parts of this type of
education.
2.3 Technology
In order to motivate a lonely participant at a remote place,
efficient and reliable communication facilities with his teachers
and his fellow students are of great importance. In the present e-
learning the Internet and a conference or communication system
play an important role.
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Figure 1. Course participants and courseware using client and
server computers.
90
There is a wealth of educational material to find at the Internet.
Interactive learning programs can be used on-line and the latest
version of the learning program is thereby installed. Such
programs can be downloaded and used in an off-line mode as
well. A simulation program for a server may then be necessary.
The Internet can also be used as a computer where heavy
computing takes place at a server only. The server computer
hosts the courseware which then is used from the client
computers. Figure 1 gives an overview how the client and
server computers interact with each other and which are the
components of e-learning.
3. EUROSDR E-LEARNING COURSES
The European Organisation for Spatial Data Research has
organized e-learning courses since 2002. The courses are based
on research projects of EuroSDR and the results of these
research projects are learned in depth and with the goal that new
technologies and methods are used later on by the national
mapping agencies, private firms and universities of the member
states. A task force of EuroSDR organizes the educational
service for each year. It selects the topics and the teachers of the
courses. The teachers are recruited from the group of EuroSDR
project leaders or from universities who have experience of the
selected topic and e-learning.
3.1 Contents
Currently five courses are prepared: Integrated sensor
orientation (course A), automatic orientation of aerial images on
databases (course B), airborne laser scanning and
interferometric SAR (course C), digital cameras/sensors and
data fusion (course D), and co-ordinate reference systems
(course E). Other knowledge of the course contents originates
from EuroSDR seminars and/or workshops. Each e-learning
course requires about 30 hours of work from the participants.
3.2 Pedagogy
The participants have different technical background. They are
professionals of the European national mapping agencies and of
private firms as well as PhD students or master students of
universities. E-learning is unknown to most of the participants.
Culture differences in the relation between teacher and
participant may exist. Therefore, a compulsory two-day
introductory seminar is held at the beginning of a bunch of
courses, where the participants and teachers get acquainted to
each other and where an introduction to the topics and the
courseware is given. During the courses the progress of the
learning is tested by the participants themselves (self-tests) and
also by the teacher. His or her answers to the questions and
problems of the participants have to be given promptly within
48 hours during the two weeks of the course. A certificate of
"successful attendance" is given if the participants have actively
participated and passed a final test.
3.3 Technology
The participants of the e-learning courses must have access to
the Internet. A communication and conference system is very
helpful. A browser (for example Internet Explorer) and an e-
mail program (for example Eudora) is a more simple and
cheaper solution. The use of the computer conference system
"FirstClass" (FC) requires the installation of the client software
