Digital Learning Media team have some kit to loan out to encourage everyone to have a go at creating their own media. Recently, Peter Morgan from the School of Geography and Environmental Science requested the loan of the Nikon Keymission 360 camera in order to create a virtual field trip. He has written the following blog post to share his experience:
The use of 360 imagery to enhance teaching first came to my attention via the Virtual Palaeoscience Project in discussions about how to adapt teaching during the pandemic. In one example a virtual fieldtrip had been made using 360 images in Thinglink.
In Geography and Environmental Science we were faced with the challenge of delivering the learning outcomes around field work to our undergraduate students in a world where we couldn’t meet in person, let alone travel abroad. To address this we created a virtual fieldtrip to Namibia this utilised 360 photo scenes created by using images taken as a by-product of research surveying work using a terrestrial laser scanner.
When I learnt that Digital Learning had equipment available I thought this would be a great opportunity to try out the new technology and experiment with some ideas. Borrowing the 360 Nikon keymission camera, I found it easy to collect 360 images and video. I used these to create a Virtual Tour showing the Geography and Environmental Science Facilities, and how we were operating safely during the pandemic. This informed both colleagues who had been working remotely for some time, and new students unfamiliar with our site.
Now that we are able to undertake some field classes, we are planning for the first of these in the New Forest. I am considering how to enhance the student learning experience with 360 images and videos, to both prepare them for the field work, and to help them reflect on what they have learnt after the trip. Notably these resources will also provide a virtual trip for any student unable to attend in person due to COVID19.
Peter Morgan
Laboratory manager, School of Geography and Environmental Science
