Hours spent out standing in British Columbia’s fields have certainly paid off for the SOILx team who were recently recognized for outstanding accomplishments in education innovation. On 15 May, SOILx, which includes CTLT’s Chris Crowley, was awarded the 2014 Canadian Network for Innovation in Education (CNIE) Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Integration of Technology, in a Formal or Non-Formal Educational Program. The award was given for their cross-platform project, SOILx (soilx.ca), an interactive teaching and learning tool that aggregates information, including location on map, images, videos and scientific data of all existing SSLR (Soil Science Learning Resources) soil study sites.
Students can access SOILx (which stands for Searchable, Open, Innovative, Location-based eXperience) at school or home via their computers, or on location via any mobile device with a GPS, as the tool also has an Augmented Reality interface through which the closest study site could be found, much the same as you would use it to find a service station or takeaway store.
The project team includes UBC’s Dr. Maja Krzic (Associate Professor, Faculty of Land and Food Systems / Faculty of Forestry), Saeed Dyanatkar (Digital Media Technologies), Julie Wilson (Faculty Land and Water Systems) and undergrad Computer Sciences student Nathan Sidles who worked on the development of the tool. Team members from other post-secondary institutions are Dr. Angela Bedard-Haughn (University of Saskatchewan), Dr. Nathan Basiliko (Lakes Centre, Laurentian University), Dr. Paul Sanborn (University of Northern British Columbia) and Kent Watson (Thompson Rivers University). Graphic design for the website was done by Shirley Ho.
Maja, who has recently begun including SOILx in her 4th year Sustainable Soil Management course, is excited about its potential.
The UBC part of the SOILx team (from left to right): Nathan Sidles, Julie Wilson, Chris Crowley, Maja Krzic, and Saeed Dyanatkar
“Currently there are only BC sites listed in the SOILx,” she says. “But there is nothing preventing us from making it bigger and to locate sites anywhere in the world.”
According to Saeed, “the system is designed to be expandable and to import data from variety of resources. It can accept user-generated content, which means any user with some expertise in soil science of course, could submit their data via the website to be included in the database. There is also potential for importing large government GIS information in order to make them accessible for the public.”
“Most of the existing online soil survey information in BC and Canada is mainly posted in a form of reports scanned into PDFs on various websites,” Maja says. “SOILx allows students to access the information through one database and also to upload their own findings, providing students with a sense of ownership in their learning.”
SOILx is just one component of over a decade’s worth of collaborations of the Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources group (www.soilweb.ca). The most recent initiative of this group was carried out in collaboration with the Canadian Society of Soil Science (CSSS). The newly created CSSS Soil Science Education Committee provides a platform to enhance Soil Science education at high school, undergraduate, and graduate level across Canada.
“Now, more than ever, there is a need for soil awareness, beginning in high school and even at the earlier levels. In light of global issues such as climate change and food shortages, the general public needs to be aware of the important roles that soil plays in our environment. In many parts of the world, Soil Science and Agriculture post-secondary programs have been in decline during last several decades. This is a result of numerous factors, including a growing urban population and a general lack of understanding about importance of soil.” Maja says.
Chris says, “Working to create these learning resources with this team has been a privilege. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to support the innovative learning initiatives of the soil scientists at UBC and to see these resources incorporated into classroom and online learning.”
“Not many other universities in Canada have an equivalent of CTLT,” Maja says. “It’s fantastic that we are able to share this expertise with our colleagues soil scientists in other parts of Canada, and I am looking forward to future collaborative project that will allow us to enhance soil science education. The award is helping us to continue to build momentum.”
SOILx was funded by BCcampus, who also published an article about the study in November 2013.
