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washington college admissions newsletter | volume iv. number iii, fall 2020 | USPS 667260 washcoll.edu/admissions | 410-778-7700 | @wcadmissions
FRESH PERSPECTIVES: HOW ONE PROFESSOR USED VIRTUAL REALITY TO DEEPEN THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Pictured: Love on the Streets, a VR experience following Tim and Daisy, and their experience living life in public.
Using the college library’s new VARDIS (Virtual/ Augmented Reality Digital Imaging Studio), Steinmetz and Instructional Technologist Raven Bishop worked together to design a virtual reality (VR) experience around homelessness that transcended the typical observer perspective, allowing students to examine the subject from a more intimate and intense perspective.
“The VR activity actually put me in the shoes of a homeless person and showed me what it feels like,” said Shirokova. “It put me inside the topic and made it feel real. It was memorable and thought-provoking.” Steinmetz plans to repeat the VR activity around homelessness this fall, and to further build upon this innovative approach with at least two additional lessons. And because the activity requires just a smartphone and a simple cardboard VR viewer, it can easily be adapted as part of the online instruction.
Nancy Cross, Director of Educational Technology, also collaborated by providing instruction on media literacy and storytelling across multiple mediums.
What she learned through this process is that it’s important to let go of any expectations and ride the experience with the students. One group may find it life-changing while another group exposed to the same activity may need more support to work through it.
Core to the lesson were three VR experiences that immersed students in the daily lives of four unhoused people in Los Angeles. Through the 360-degree VR perspective offered by the four narrators, the students gained a real sense of “being there.”
“The real point here is to be responsive to what the students are feeling,” Steinmetz said. “Act as a guide through the activity and help students process the experience. How they respond is how they respond; it’s our job to be there to catch them.”
“When I was ‘in VR,’ I actually forgot that I was in college and in the middle of a class,” said Dasha Shirokova, a sophomore who participated in this activity. “I could not only see the videos, I could feel them.” As part of the lesson, Steinmetz prompted students to first unpack their assumptions around homelessness by acknowledging what they already believed. Most surprising to Steinmetz was how this brief 10-minute intervention resulted in an abrupt shift in that understanding, and the rapid unraveling of those
While it was just a one-week activity, it had a big impact on many levels.
“This was just one little thing that we implemented by asking ‘How can I deepen the learning around this point?’ There’s great value in these small interventions and innovations,” Steinmetz said. “They can lead to really big things.”
IN THIS ISSUE FRESH PERSPECTIVES: HOW ONE PROFESSOR USED VIRTUAL REALITY TO DEEPEN THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE BY KELLEY WALLACE PAGE 1
HE'S “FEELEY” GOOD! BY DAVID GANSELL PAGE 2
A PASSION FOR TEACHING BY WENDY MITMAN CLARKE M'16 PAGE 2
OUT OF THE BOX BY MARCIA LANDSKROENER M'02 PAGE 2
BECOMING SINOPHONE BY MEREDITH KENTON '19 PAGE 3
TEACHING AND LEARNING IN A PANDEMIC BY MARCIA LANDSKROENER M'02 PAGE 3
WASHINGTON COLLEGE IS THE FIRST COLLEGE IN MARYLAND TO OFFER A PATH TO TEACHER CERTIFICATION IN COMPUTER SCIENCE BY ABBEY WARK '18 PAGE 3
WASHINGTON COLLEGE CAMPUS COMMUNITY UNITES TO MASTER VIRTUAL TEACHING BY DAVID GANSELL
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office of admissions
One of the goals of Emily Steinmetz’s Introduction to Anthropology course is to guide students to new ways of seeing the world. Another is to make visible the structural factors that profoundly shape people’s lives. And thanks to her collaboration with two Washington College colleagues, she was recently able to engage with students in an innovative way that supported those goals.
ingrained stereotypes. “Credit goes to the students for that,” she said. “They came into the activity with open hearts and minds. Because they were willing to let go of those preconceived notions, they were open to a new way of thinking.”
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by Kelley Wallace