Smart Geolocation Education for Tanzanian Universities
Geolocation, or geoinformation and related solutions, are widely needed today, in areas from waste management to forest conservation, urban planning and disaster relief. So far, open data and geolocation data have been limited in terms of their availability in low-income countries, and the need for them is constantly growing.
For this reason, the GeoICT4e project was coordinated for four years by the University of Turku, bringing geolocation expertise to new fields in Tanzanian higher education institutions.
“At its core are experts in geography and information technology, but also urban planners, forest scientists, community planners and social scientists,” says Professor of Geography and project coordinator Niina Käyhkö, from the University of Turku.
In addition to the University of Turku, the project involved the University of Dar es Salaam, Ardhi University, Sokoine University of Agriculture, the State University of Zanzibar, Moshi Co-operative University and, from Finland, Turku University of Applied Sciences and Novia University of Applied Sciences.
Sustainable Solutions
During the project, a pedagogy of multidisciplinary learning was created, which the partners refer to as MCL (multi-competence learning).
Its starting point is based on the now popular challenge-based learning. In this method, students are grouped into multidisciplinary teams that come up with real-life problems for which practical solutions can be found. The teams work on these problems for about eight weeks.
“We refined the methodology for educational situations using geolocation and digital technology, where close interaction with societal actors occurs” Käyhkö says.
It was also important to seek solutions that consider ecological and social sustainability. This, according to university lecturer Antero Järvi, makes the work demanding.
“The challenge is that you really have to understand what kind of problem you’re dealing with and what impacts each solution will have.”
The pedagogical goal is that when students graduate, they can think broadly.
“In the Tanzanian context, you can’t just make a new mobile app that solves a small problem and expect money to start flowing,” Järvi says. The focus should be on systemic solutions that have real sustainability impacts.
Together, the partners developed an open digital guide based on the MCL method. This MCL Playbook is available online, enabling other universities to learn how to apply the method.
Learning is the Most Important Thing
Last year, students solved problems on their own campuses, with the theme of the “smart campus” and its challenges. One group developed smart waste bins, while another developed lecture hall booking systems. The previous year, the theme was water, and groups addressed problems related to sanitation and access to clean water.
Moses Ismail Mchome, from the University of Dar es Salaam, says that it is, of course, good if students find working solutions, but that is not the main goal.
“The most important thing is that they learn through this process. They connect with many different stakeholders, gather as much data and information as possible and seek solutions together.”
This kind of learning does not happen in a lecture hall but requires concrete action.
The idea is that multidisciplinary teams bring their expertise together and quickly find themselves in challenging situations facing new issues.
Microcontent for Broad Use
In addition to longer challenge-based sessions, the project produced micro-sized learning content - so-called digital nuggets - which can be integrated into different courses. The content consists of videos, quizzes and other similar material and the entire portfolio can be found at digicampus.fi.
“Small content pieces are handy because they can be flexibly incorporated into different courses,” says Antero Järvi.
“In Tanzania, curricula are quite rigid, so these small pieces of content can be flexibly integrated, kind of through the back door.”
Romi Rancken, from Novia University of Applied Sciences, adds that Tanzanian universities are now capable of producing similar microcontent themselves, which is important for sustainability.
“This material will eventually become outdated, at least in part, but if they know how to produce it, the future is secured.”
Fits in with the Major Changes in Tanzanian Education
The challenge-based learning approach came at a good time in Tanzania, where the education sector is currently undergoing massive changes, according to the project’s Tanzanian coordinators.
Universities want to move towards challenge-based learning, and there is much talk about digital transformation in the reform.
“Just before I came to Finland, I participated in a workshop where I presented the lessons from the project and how they can help in curriculum reform,” says Abubakar Diwani Bakari from the State University of Zanzibar.
George Elly Matto from Moshi University says the project has already influenced broader planning.
“In the new curriculum, students at our university were required to do an internship of four to five weeks. But in our MCL programme, we already had an eight-week session, and we suggested that extending the internship would be beneficial. Now, in the new curriculum, the internship period has been extended.”
Skills Needed in the Workforce
The aim of the project is to provide learners with modern work-life skills through practical experience. The challenges involve companies and other potential employers, bringing the academic and business worlds closer together.
“We want our young people to be more employable,” says Abubakar Diwani Bakari. “In the world of work, there’s a great need for multidisciplinary expertise and problem-solving skills, especially in addressing societal challenges.”
George Elly Matto has noticed that the project has made students more daring.
“They look for opportunities and participate in competitions. For example, some of our students participated in the national innovation week this year. Last year, students won awards there for their ideas.”
A major role model for many is a woman trained in the project who founded her own drone company in Tanzania.
“These are the kinds of stories this injection seeks to create,” Niina Käyhkö says. “Some individuals emerge who spark great interest, and when it’s a woman, the impact is doubled.”
Antero Järvi says that geolocation technology is not an end in itself, but in a setting like Tanzania, it is smart to consider many large challenges from a location-based perspective.
“This technology definitely equips students with skills that will be useful in the workforce.”
A Large World Bank Project Supports the Same Goal
At the same time as the GeoICT4e project, the same partners secured funding for another project, the Resilience Academy, funded by the World Bank.
“These projects are two flagship concepts,” says Niina Käyhkö.
Under the Resilience Academy, for example, an open database related to climate change risks has been launched, containing almost 200 open geospatial datasets from Tanzanian cities, and 1,500 students have learned data collection. These two projects together form an ecosystem that enhances the impact of both, Käyhkö says.
“We already knew about the World Bank funding when this project started, so the project was built in such a way that the HEI-ICI project focuses on institutional solutions and skills, while the World Bank project focuses on labour market needs.”
Geoinformation is Needed Everywhere
In many poor countries, open and high-quality data are poorly available, although the need for them is great.
“The World Bank makes extensive investments in Africa, for example in urban development and reconstruction. They assume that these cannot be done without up-to-date information,” Käyhkö says.
In the Resilience Academy project, for example, she has seen how, instead of expensive consultants, 100 students have been recruited to collect data with drones, earning academic credits for the data collection and digitisation. Many become so good at their work that they end up working in companies in the field.
“This is incredible in Tanzania,” Käyhkö says.
Many humanitarian organisations, starting with the Red Cross, now need geoinformation. The European Union’s new deforestation regulation also requires that the origin of many products entering Europe can be traced back to individual farms using geodata.
“Geoinformation is needed for so many things,” says Zakaria Robert Ngereja from Ardhi University. “From healthcare to forests, agriculture to environmental management, green urban environments to traffic management. So, a lot of data are needed, a lot of planning and numerous smart solutions.”
Collaboration No Longer Depends on Projects
The people of Turku have been collaborating with Tanzanians for a couple of decades. The HEI-ICI project, which ended in August, was the third of its kind.
It seems that GeoICT4e will be the last HEI-ICI project for the partners. Niina Käyhkö says that the partners made a conscious decision not to apply for a new project from this funding window, as a saturation point has been reached.
HEI-ICI’s funding is relatively small and is intended, for example, for developing and implementing new teaching methods.
In Turku, it was felt that it might be someone else’s turn to receive this funding. The collaboration with Tanzanians, according to Käyhkö, is already so deep that it no longer depends on individual projects: there are currently several Tanzanian PhD students in Turku and many smaller collaborations are ongoing all the time.
The focus is now on other funding sources, many of which are larger than HEI-ICI. The World Bank project was already in the million-euro range.
Tanzanian universities are also now so well networked that they have jointly applied for funding from other international donors and even from funders within Tanzania.
“We have a very strong network,” says George Elly Matto. “We also conduct research collaboration and supervise dissertations together with researchers from different universities.”
Text: Esa Salminen