Capacity Building Workshop at Interdisciplinary Department of Remote Sensing and GIS Applications
Aligarh: Considering the need for geospatial technology education, PG Geography teachers of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) schools were trained in various geospatial technologies including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Remote Sensing, Image Analysis, and related location-based technologies among others in the recently concluded week-long, Capacity Building Workshop held at Interdisciplinary Department of Remote Sensing and GIS Applications.
The workshop was conducted under the United Nation Global Geospatial Information Management (UNGGIM) Academic Network guidelines.
“Geospatial technologies in classrooms are at a watershed moment in the history of educational technology, but at the same time there is also a dearth of teachers who are adequately skilled to teach the subject. I am sure that the participation in this workshop has provided the school teachers with the necessary skills to teach geospatial technologies”, said Prof Asfar Ali Khan (Director, Directorate of School Education, AMU).
He was speaking as the Chief Guest of the valedictory function; Prof Asfar said that training programmes for teachers in geospatial technology should be held regularly.
Dr Haris Hasan Khan (Chairman, Interdisciplinary Department of Remote Sensing and GIS Applications) discussed the importance and necessity of open source software and freely available geospatial datasets in capacity building activities.
He said: “Over the past years the ability to access the content and functionality of GIS tools through a browser has increased dramatically and Geospatial technology is becoming an important component in school curriculums”.
Speaking on the significance of the geospatial capacity building programmes for school teachers, the Guest of Honour, Prof Kr Frahim Ali Khan (Chairman, Department of Geology) gave an overview of the current status of geospatial education and challenges in integrating geospatial education in secondary and tertiary education.
Prof Shahab Fazal (Department of Geography) pressed the need for developing an open source software culture in the field of Remote Sensing and GIS.
Prof Qazi Mazhar Ali (Workshop Resource Person) emphasised that a capacity building event under the banner of UN GGIM for professional development of senior secondary school teachers in the field of GIS technology was long due.
He also spoke about Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) with reference to geospatial technology.
Prof Nizamuddin Khan (Department of Geography) called for a widespread dissemination of geospatial skills among school teachers.
Dr Rizwan Ahmad delivered the welcome address and extended the vote of thanks.