Visualising the field - VR and mobile devices

A recent workshop presented by Scott Turner, Naomi Holmes, Adel Gordon and Janet Jackson at Northampton Learning and Teaching Conference 2014- Northampton 2018: Planning, Designing and Delivering Student Success gave participants an opportunity to 'play with' some of the computing technologies they have been investigating as tools for Environmental and Geography Students.

Visualising the field from Scott Turner

awarding winning mobile for fieldwork

The now highly commended case study (see figure) of colloborative work by Adel Gordon and Janet Jackson, University of Northampton, Julie Usher, Blackboard (previously University of Northampton) in using mobile technologies in Fieldwork for Environmental Sciences  was presented on 23rd January 2014 at 

Effective use of mobile technologies to enhance learning, teaching and assessment, 

,

Context take from the paper:

"The culture, practice and pedagogy of academic disciplines such as geography and environmental sciences are based around in the field activities as well as traditional learning in face to face, online and laboratory scenarios. Downward et al (2008) have argued that environmental scientists are uniquely positioned to pilot mobile technologies, because they work across so many different contexts.

figure 1

Figure 1 depicts the varied contexts in which environmental students are now expected to work. Within each of these disciplinary contexts learners should have access to all the resources they need, as well as the ability to capture, reflect on, develop and extend their ideas into other contexts.

As Kukulska-Hulme et al (2007) note, mobile learning may offer a solution to this problem, by encouraging students to use “portable tools that support observations, interactions, conversations and reflections, within and across various contexts of use...” (p.53).

With this in mind we wanted to find a solution that could facilitate students’ learning both within and across these contexts."

To read more, read the full paper at Good Practice Guide "Mobile learning:How mobile technologies can enhance the learning experience" page 2  published by UCISA.

Reference
Kukulska-Hulme, A, Traxler, J, and Pettit, J, (2007). Designed and user generated activity in the mobile age. Journal of Learning Design, 2(1), pp 52–65.

Other related links:

• Virtual Reality in Teaching.
• Update for the Innovation Panel
• Update: Learning across contexts

update: Learning across contexts – mobile for fieldwork

An update of the use of the mobile technologies for field work is available at http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/files/2012/09/Npton-Case-Study-EnvSci-Julie-Usher-and-Janet-Jackson-2011-2012.pdf


Intended outcomes

 To enable students to quickly and easily document 
findings and ideas in the field 
 To enable the student to access resources electronically
and re-use data in other learning contexts



Process

Trial use of mobile technology on two field trips, to Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve in December 2011 and to Stonehenge in February 2012. For both trips, the tutor set up a group blog in NILE, and asked the students to record their findings on site using mobile devices, and post them to the blog for 
discussion.

The Wicken Fen field trip formed part of a second year module on Habitat Ecology and Management. Students were asked to observe and record details of the wetland habitat and share their observations with the group. They also planned to use GPS to tag the exact locations of their images and notes, to share with the wider community via Flickr, an image sharing site.



Benefits and Challenges

A feedback survey revealed that students enjoyed using the devices, particularly for photography and video, which 
helped them to record a lot of data very easily. 80% of the students said that the app was ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to use. 

Connectivity was a real challenge, particularly for the Wicken Fen trip where there was very little mobile signal. This was challenging  partly because of student expectations – when handed an internet enabled device, they expected to be able to connect and start accessing information. The purpose of the trip though was for them to record their own data, and be creators rather than consumers, so expectations needed to be clearly set!

Connectivity was also an issue for the GPS tagging of resources, and for some apps, like Dragon Dictation, which relied on data connection or stored information in the cloud. The weather on the Wicken Fen trip was also a challenge, particularly for those using touch screen devices!


Key points

 Framing the device is crucial – explain why you want students 
to use it and what value it can add for their learning.
 Allow students to experiment – some even recorded their 
stakeholder roleplays on site!
 Inclusion is important. Make sure you have loan devices for 
those that don’t have their own.

mobile for fieldwork

Taken from  http://blogs.northampton.ac.uk/learntech/2012/09/07/learning-across-contexts-mobile-for-fieldwork/  by Adel Gordon

This case study talks about a pilot run by Janet Jackson and her students in Environmental Sciences from the School of Science & Technology, whilst on two field trips to Wicken Fen and Stonehenge.

The main aims of this pilot were to allow the students to document and reflect on their findings whilst in the context (in this case the field trips), and then to access and re-use that information outside of the context.

Students enjoyed using the devices, particularly for photography and video, which helped them to record a lot of data very easily. 80% of the students said that the app was ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’ to use.

More details can be found at Leaning across contexts – mobile for fieldwork (case study, PDF 581KB)

 

Using Flip cameras to record oral presentations

Reblogged from http://nile.northampton.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_86_1 posted by Julie Usher

This case study looks at the use of handheld video cameras (Flip cameras), to allow students to record oral presentations for assessment.

This project was run as part of a third year Environmental Science module, by Dr Janet Jackson in the school of Science and Technology.

Click on Using Flip cameras for oral presentations (case study, PDF 453KB) for the details of the case study

Click on Video clip for an example of feedback from students 

Go to http://nile.northampton.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_86_1 for example and more detail.

Inclusive Learning

On the 7th June 2011 the School of Science and Technology ran a staff development activity looking at Inclusive learning and assessment.


'Question Time'
A 60 minute panel session, panel members
Chair: Janet Jackson - the school's Disability Co-ordinator;
Jayne Hey - Access Ability Team Leader;
Jill Pickard -  Head of Framework & Student Regulations;
John Butcher - Senior Academic Development Advisor, DELTAE;
Paul Crofts - Equality & Diversity Officer (Students), DELTAE.




Questions included

• ·         What does inclusive learning mean to you?  
• ·         Who stands to benefit from inclusive learning and how? 
• ·         Where does the University stand legally in terms of its responsibilities in this area?  
• ·         Will inclusive assessment mean all my students pass?  
• ·         Are innovative assessment and inclusive assessment mutually exclusive? 
• ·         Where can staff go for help in designing inclusive assessment?    

This session was followed by a subject-based groups 'breaking away' to discuss the five questions around this area and then to feed back to other  colleagues.


One of the outcomes from this has been departments within the school being asked to prove examples of good practice in this area for wider dissemination.