GPS-tagged images define the trail of an interdisciplinary miniterm in Egypt

Abstract

Egypt has one of the oldest civilizations of the world. Its history is rich with events and its land still hides a lot of mystery. With the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the east, Egypt enjoys a strategic location on the map of the world. Many of the monuments and temples constructed thousands of years ago still stand, and are continuously maintained to preserve them in good shape. A survey of existing artifacts and archeological sites of ancient Egypt reveals an impressive inventory of Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic heritage and cultures. Egypt has also a remarkable array of modern wonders including the largest earth dam in the world, the Suez Canal that links the Mediterranean and Red Seas, subways, roads, bridges, tunnels, and huge energy generation, water storage, massive irrigation, and giant land reclamation projects. Faced with an explosive population increase, the effort of upgrading existing infrastructure and constructing new additions for the many new cities presently under construction is unparallel. Furthermore, for its beautiful nature, mild weather, endless beaches, and rich history, Egypt is a major tourist attraction. A three weeks miniterm has been developed to introduce students to many of the major features of ancient and modern Egyptian civilization. Visits to many ancient and modern places including temples and monuments all over Egypt introduced the students to places of historical significance. Using a GPS-enabled camera made it possible to link visited locations with points on the map of the world. This approach added to students' excitement as it was noticed that students developed greater sense of appreciation of the visited places, as they become part of a photo taken at a given place. Such a map-linked photo personalizes students' relationship with the visited location. The major goal of the miniterm was to help the students appreciate history/culture, as well as engineering/architecture of various noteworthy monuments. Students' interest in, and enthusiasm for this type of study were remarkable.