Using digital field notebooks in geoscientific learning in polar environments

The emergence of digital tools, including tablets with a multitude of built-in sensors, allows gathering many geological observations digitally and in a geo-referenced context. This is particularly important in the polar environments where (1) limited time is available at each outcrop due to harsh weather conditions, and (2) outcrops are rarely re-visited due to the high economic and environmental cost of accessing the localities and the short field season. In an educational development project, we explored the use of digital field notebooks in student groups of 3–4 persons during five geological field campaigns in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The field campaigns formed part of the Bachelor and Master/PhD courses at the University Centre in Svalbard in Longyearbyen at 78°N. The digital field notebooks comprise field-proofed tablets with relevant applications, notably FieldMove. Questionnaires and analyses of students’ FieldMove projects provided data on student experience of using digital field notebooks, and insight into what students used the digital notebooks for, the notebooks’ functionality and best practices. We found that electronic and geo-referenced note- and photo-taking was by far the dominant function of the digital field notebooks. In addition, some student groups collected significant amounts of structural data using the built-in sensors. Graduate students found the ability to conduct large-scale field mapping and directly display it within the digital field notebook particularly useful. Our study suggests that the digital field notebooks add value to field-based education in polar environments.

集成多种内置传感器的平板电脑等数字工具的出现，使得我们能够以数字化、地理参照（geo-referenced）的方式采集大量地质观测数据。这在极地环境中尤为关键：其一，恶劣的天气条件导致每个露头（outcrop）的可用观测时间十分有限；其二，由于前往测点的经济与环境成本高昂，且野外工作季短促，露头几乎难以被再次踏勘。在一项教育开发项目中，我们于北极斯瓦尔巴群岛（Svalbard）的五次地质野外工作中，针对3-4人组成的学生小组探索了数字野外笔记的应用。这些野外工作隶属于位于北纬78°朗伊尔城的斯瓦尔巴大学中心（University Centre in Svalbard）的本科、硕士及博士课程。该数字野外笔记配备经过野外验证的平板电脑及相关应用程序，尤以FieldMove为核心工具。通过对学生的FieldMove项目开展问卷调查与分析，我们获取了学生使用数字野外笔记的体验数据，同时深入了解了学生使用数字笔记的场景、笔记的功能及最佳实践方案。我们发现，电子化且具备地理参照功能的笔记记录与照片拍摄，是数字野外笔记的主导功能。此外，部分学生小组借助设备内置传感器采集了大量构造数据。研究生群体认为，在数字野外笔记中开展大规模野外填图并直接可视化成果的功能尤为实用。本研究表明，数字野外笔记可为极地环境下的野外教育增添实际价值。