Issues to consider in incorporating artificial intelligence learning for geomatics education in Botswana

Abstract

In the last couple of years, Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in education have received a lot of attention from both the research and the general community at large. Several international reports describe AI in education as one of the emerging fields of interest in educational technology. Despite AI technology being around for almost 30 years, it is still unclear for geomatics educators how they can take pedagogical advantage of it on a broader scale and how it can impact meaningful teaching and learning in higher education. As a result, learners miss out on opportunities to study AI-propelled smart technologies and big data-driven approaches to solve societal problems. Moreover, they are deprived of developing skills to think in terms of AI use and AI-inspired innovations to improve current processes. It is necessary to investigate meaningful ways and approaches to incorporate AI literacy and AI thinking in the school curriculum to increase the knowledge gap among learners and encourage critical thinking. Therefore, this study investigates major issues to be considered in incorporating artificial intelligence concepts in geomatics education in Botswana particularly the opportunities, challenges, ethical considerations, and overall curriculum requirements for a successful integration. Furthermore, it has designed a conceptual framework that demonstrates how artificial intelligence and data science technologies can be incorporated into geomatics education in Botswana to produce well-rounded graduates.