Pitfalls on the path to success… what did we learn after introducing tablets for digital mapping and field tectonic analyses into Nice’s Geology Master program?

Structural geologists love their compass and cherish their maps and field book more than anything, don’t they? And they are absolutely right to do so! Now, technical evolutions and the increasing availability and use by geology professionals of digital devices for structural and geological mapping means that our teaching curriculum also has to evolve and engage in these new ways of doing geology. Nevertheless, introducing tablets as field tools in the curriculum has not been so easy… If we had received one euro every time we heard that our students need to learn how to measure geological structures with a compass and maintain a proper field book rather than use a tablet for geological mapping we would be rich! We heard complaints from colleagues because students were getting too excited about using tablets… We argue that the issue with digital mapping and the use of tablets as field tools does not lie in the tools themselves, but in the overall methodology that is simply not properly mastered by the students, and that introducing exciting new tools helps overcoming the lack of interest of some and better engage them in the field in general.

The Earth Sciences Department at the Université Côte d’Azur purchased a pool of 15 iPad-mini units (3G models, as only those are equipped with GPS) protected in water-resistant and dust-proof cases. Students are given the tablet along with a battery pack, so they can charge their devices in remote locations and keep using them for mapping for at least three days. We have used a range of free apps for mapping, depending on the objectives of the field campaigns. For brittle deformation and fault slip data analysis students have access to Rick Allmendinger’s free app: FaultKin. We have been using for digital mapping in various terrains, the free Field Move app developed by Petroleum Experts Limited. Data acquired in the field (including georeferenced pictures, structural measurements, units contacts, and faults traces) have been seamlessly imported in GIS tools like Google Earth or QGIS, and been used for generating maps and field reports. We made mistakes assuming that some mapping techniques were already understood, and we are trying to improve our teaching content both in the field and in class to better prepare our students in using digital technology. Finally, we want to emphasize that the tablets are not replacing but complementing traditional mapping techniques. After a year using these tablets we have had a great engagement from our Master students and aim to introduce these tools progressively as part of the undergraduate curriculum, still insuring that correct observations are done in the field and detailed descriptions are properly entered on the tablets.