Experience-based Learning and E-learning: a Perfect Combination

The discussion on the changing nature of the surveying profession has been a key issue for more than a decade. University and training institutions have been looking for new ways to respond to these changes. E-learning is playing a key role in the professional education of surveyors and future land professionals. E-learning is also part of the education strategy of the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands. E-learning has been introduced successfully in distance education and in distance MSc supervision. However activities to promote the use of e-learning in face-to-face courses at ITC have been disappointing, except for one course: the Natural Resource Management Module. This module differs from all other courses at ITC, in the fact that it is based on experience-based learning principles. Through its interactive and reflective nature the NRM Module is constantly adapting to new realities and changing directions in the professional field, and new educational tools and techniques, including e-learning, are easily taken up and integrated. Online communication and collaboration tools and the use of a virtual learning environment have proven to support in an unexpected way the learning process in the NRM Module. The analysis of personal experiences with moderating for many years the NRM Module shows that experience-based learning and e-learning are a perfect combination.