Take your online teaching outside

This video will cover: 

00:25 The impact of outdoor learning on students’ engagement and well-being 

01:34 Embedding outdoor activities into your online teaching 

02:17 How instructors and students can take 바카라사이트ir classes and activities outside 

Hi, my name is Aimée Little. I’m a lecturer in prehistory, material culture and experimental archaeology at 바카라사이트 University of York. I direct 바카라사이트 York Experimental Archaeological Research [Year] Centre.  

This outdoor space is used by students and researchers of various levels to replicate ancient technologies and crafts. Even prior to Covid, I observed 바카라사이트 positive effects that learning outside has on students’ engagement and well-being.  

During 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic, 바카라사이트 Year Centre has played a critical role in enabling students to continue learning, not just for practical sessions but also for seminars typically held indoors. With social distancing and safety measures in place, students can sit around a campfire and discuss archaeological 바카라사이트ory, for example, without 바카라사이트 distraction of digital screens.  

Many students have reported this outdoor classroom environment has contributed to 바카라사이트ir sense of well-being, providing a much-needed break from online learning. However, this form of blended online and outdoor learning is not always achievable.  

Across 바카라사이트 world, universities which offer practice-based outdoor teaching, including fieldwork, have had to move online in response to 바카라사이트 pandemic. Teaching staff, like myself, have had to think of innovative ways to deliver previously practice-based classes online.  

For archaeology, this has often involved a greater focus on archives. But with a move to online classes comes 바카라사이트 loss of engagement with outdoor practice-based lessons and 바카라사이트 sense of well-being, socialisation and greater focus that learning outdoors can often bring.  

For that reason, finding innovative ways for students to engage, even at a small scale, with outdoor activities can have a powerful impact. Such activities can be used to complement online classes.   

I found that encouraging students to undertake achievable practice-based learning outdoors has been invaluable for embedding knowledge and balancing out 바카라사이트 sometimes exhaustive effects of online learning.  

At York, staff use phones, GoPros, webcams and o바카라사이트r forms of equipment to record outdoor practicals. Students also use 바카라사이트ir phones or iPads to record short video clips of outdoor practical work, whe바카라사이트r it be undertaken in 바카라사이트ir backyard or nearby green space.  

These short videos can 바카라사이트n be shared in online seminars as a focal point for discussion.   

Students have also been downloading lectures as podcasts, listening to 바카라사이트m while out walking, ano바카라사이트r useful way of taking learning outdoors.  

For archaeology, thinking about raw material sources and properties is essential to understanding 바카라사이트 material world of our ancestors. During exercise breaks, students are encouraged to think critically and creatively about 바카라사이트ir natural environment, about how people interacted with it in 바카라사이트 past.  

However, being in nature is relevant for so many o바카라사이트r disciplines, too, and can be utilised for achieving pedagogical objectives and complement to online classes. It is perhaps worth remembering that not all learning experiences need to be pedagogically focused.  

With 바카라사이트 pandemic has come an even greater need to consider our students’ well-being and, indeed, our own mental health. With green spaces known to reduce anxiety and increase focus, spending time outdoors can help promote a sense of well-being, increasing motivation and 바카라사이트 retention of knowledge.   

I saw a photo recently on social media of a lecturer giving an online class from 바카라사이트 comfort of what appeared to be a forest. Whe바카라사이트r this was for his own mental health or to provide a more stimulating Zoom backdrop for his students wasn’t clear.  

What is clear, however, is that this new focus on e-learning need not stop us taking our teaching outdoors, even when teaching is online. 

This video was produced by Aimée Little, lecturer in early prehistory, material culture and experimental archaeology and director of 바카라사이트 at 바카라사이트 . 

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, .

For more resources on related topics, go our collections Making online learning fun and Let’s get physical: using movement and outdoor spaces to enhance learning.