IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - September 2017 - 15

vigorous multidisciplinary perspective for developing the
best educational practices. This agenda includes the following four main foci:
◗ assessing geospatial thinking rather than skills with a
certain software-in other words, geospatial thinking
versus buttonology
◗ learning geospatial technologies with a special focus on
web-based learning platforms
◗ developing geospatial technology skills for teaching
◗ improving general insight on the subject through the expansion of inquiries.
The use of UAVs for teaching would fit in all four foci of
this agenda. In addition to the application of the agenda, it
is also necessary to develop evaluation methods for teachers to identify their advancement in GIS&T [68].
A few significant contributions on specific geospatial
education with UAVs have been published. Specifically, in
[69], a syllabus with commercial software was developed,
while [70] presents several open-source software packages. A more complex contribution to the research literature
[71] proposes a three-level approach to UAV education: a
capstone project, a series of lectures within a course, and a
full course. These levels may be seen as an orientation for
future curricular developments.
There are many applications in which UAVs could be
employed, and the final structure of a course with UAVs
would depend greatly on the intended use of this technology. However, there are a few content elements that could
be considered as milestones to better teach with UAVs independent of the application. First of all, anyone interested
in UAVs must be aware of local regulations. These are still
changing as new application opportunities are explored.
Hence, teaching not only about current regulations but
also about where to access any changes is paramount. Following regulations, the issue of ethics and privacy is gaining relevance exponentially. Consequently, much more
time should be devoted to this matter. A good start could

be the code of ethics published by the Urban Regional Information Systems Association [72], but, especially in HE
courses, this should be extended. Perhaps even discussions
of recent papers on the issue, such as [73]-[75], would be
both interesting and engaging.
Considering the specifics of geomatics engineering programs, I myself am more inclined to employ UAVs within
existing courses rather than in standalone courses. For instance, surveying instrument courses should introduce
UAVs, their types, sources of errors, and so forth. Then, photogrammetry courses could use UAVs to introduce camera
calibration, internal and external orientations, image distortions, and so on. RS courses could also introduce classification methods by inspecting buildings in a manner similar
to what an insurance company would do. In such a case,
a strong focus on object-based image classification would
also be beneficial.
Within all these courses, or within a specialized geomatics algorithms course, students could learn and program the important algorithms necessary for developing
a deep understanding of the techniques and processes in
RS. Specific uses of RS in geosciences would also contribute to the learning process by having students apply their
acquired knowledge to real-world problems. The combined effort provided by several educators focusing on
different aspects of UAVs in this field would reinforce the
student learning process and avoid buttonology in favor of
the concepts and techniques necessary to understand the
processes that take place in geospatial thinking-whether
it is applied in RS, photogrammetry, or GIS. Moreover, the
consistent use of UAVs across the curriculum would help
students consolidate the acquired knowledge.
In an attempt to provide clarity on the SWOT of
teaching and learning geospatial thinking and assist
in summarizing some significant aspects described in
this article, Table 2 presents a SWOT matrix modified
from [50].

TABLE 2. A SWOT MATRIX OF LEARNING GEOSPATIAL THINKING.
STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Listed as STEM

Lack of geotechnology experts

Nontechnical students' access to ICT

Diverse digital literacy

Has strong institutional support

Limited access to infrastructure

Ubiquitous geospatial information

Buttonology

Improves employability

Novelty and lack of awareness

High market growth

Steep learning curve

Promotes ICT skills

Buttonology versus geospatial thinking Important emerging technology

Promotes spatial and geospatial thinking

UAV regulations

Multiple platforms

Is highly engaging

Privacy and ethics issues left aside

Engaging learning contexts

Has an explicit connection to
mathematics

Technology as a distraction

Improved employment in depressed
areas
Gap between demand and workforce
Plethora of possibilities
Vast number of resources

ICT: information and communications technology.

SEPTEMBER 2017

IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - September 2017