Abstract:

The School of Marine, Nautical and Radio Electronic Engineering (EINAMAR) of the University of Cadiz is in process of transition to the new educational system according to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). New technologies can be introduced in some profesional subjects, which are fundamentals in the training of the future Merchant Marine Officers. Its application to real cases offers the possibility of improving student learning outcomes.
Basic Maritime Training is a fundamental subject for the three Nautical Sciences Grades taught at the University of Cadiz. Upon completing and passing this course, the students obtain the professional title of Sailor, issued by the Directorate of Merchant Marine. Initially, an experimental practice will be introduced. It last for four academic hours and provide an understanding of the fundamental concepts of navigation and pilotage. To achieve this goal, low cost GPS navigation receivers and Google Earth (a free on-line tool) are used. This practice is mandatory and will be evaluated together with navigation practices aboard of the sailing training ship “Tartessos” and other practical works of the subject, accounting for 20% of the subject final score.

The main aims of this practise are:
i. Introducing the e-learning educational technology in this subject.
ii. Checking the learning progress of the students during the practice.
iii. Facilitating a new training material and the use of new media in order to improve the learning and understanding of this matter.

As an ammendment of the learning process, the practice will improve knowledge in the topics of navigation. Upon completing this course and fulfilling the objectives of the practice, the student will be proficient in the following:
a. Introduction of the new technologies and their applications in real and professional cases, which are fully compatible with the theoretical content of the subject.
b. Learning and/or updating of basic concepts of navigation and pilotage that have been provided during the lectures and applied objectively with the help and use of new technologies.

At the end of the course, the success of this initiative will be assesed by means of the analysis of a performed among the students, as well as the comparison of the marks obtained during the present course with those of former years.

Keywords:

Maritime training, new technologies, navigation practice, GPS, Google Earth, learning, e-learning.