By Dr. Ernest Mauya and Msilikale Msilanga
The aim of GeoICT4e has been to enhance the management and teaching capacities of Tanzanian universities in the are of geospatial and ICT education, with a clear goal of improving employment opportunities for graduates. By concentrating on crucial aspects of educational capacities, GeoICT4e empowers staff to plan and implement multi-competence learning solutions, promotes open access to digital e-learning assets, and bolsters students’ digital skills and multi-competences. This initiative also advances institutional uptake and management capacities of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), particularly in broadening the scope of geospatial-ICT education to reach a wider audience.
Central to the GeoICT4e project is the transformation of education through students’ multi-competence learning (MCL) process, rooted in challenge-based learning principles. This approach enhances students’ competences in four key knowledge domains: understanding complex societal problems, utilising digital geospatial data and open-source Geo-ICT technologies, developing collaborative abilities and professional confidence in multi-stakeholder teams, and designing climate-smart solutions for social, environmental, and economic sustainability amidst global change-induced uncertainties. This MCL process optimises socially innovative geospatial and ICT education transformation.
One of the tangible outcomes of the GeoICT4e project’s efforts at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) is the integration of EMLID Reach RS2 Differential GPS units into the educational resources. These devices, are current being utilised by students during their industrial attachments for precision planning of timber harvesting operations in their training forests at Arusha, Tanzania. This initiative represent a significant technological leap in Timber Harvesting Operations with a precision range of 10 to 30 cm. This enhancement in precision planning for timber harvesting is a clear indication of the project’s impact on teaching and learning facilities, demonstrating the practical application of GeoICT4e’s goal to advance geospatial-ICT education and prepare students for the modern workforce.
