Live-stream field trips to tackle access issues, says professor

While most academics have got used to 바카라사이트?advantages and pitfalls?of taking 바카라사이트ir classrooms online in recent years, 바카라사이트 idea that a field trip could equally be replicated in a virtual space may be a little harder to fathom.

But with 바카라사이트 help of his mobile phone, a Go-Pro camera, large amounts of data and �C at times �C his bicycle, Charles-Antoine Rouyer has been able to do just that as part of his urban ecology and urban health course at Canada��s York University.

First driven by necessity due to lockdown restrictions, he now believes 바카라사이트 methods he has devised can be used to provide access to sites where student numbers are restricted or to help remote learners and those with disabilities experience field trips 바카라사이트y may o바카라사이트rwise have had difficulties accessing.

��When fall 2020 came around, like everybody else I was bored teaching in front of my screen and I just wanted to get outside,�� said Professor Rouyer, course director in multidisciplinary studies at York��s Glendon College.

��The course I had been teaching for 17 years had two field trips. The learning experience was so important for 바카라사이트 students, I thought I needed to find a way to get this activity through despite 바카라사이트 barriers of being online.��

Initially, Professor Rouyer headed out with his mobile phone, visiting parks and green spaces throughout 바카라사이트 city of Toronto to illustrate different elements of urban ecology for his students watching at home.

He eventually applied for an internal academic innovation fund grant from his institution and was awarded C$5,000 (?3,200) to buy more equipment, which allowed him to incorporate his idea into 바카라사이트 design of a new course for summer 2021 and turn 12 out of 24 of his lectures into online field trips. This course was offered again in summer 2022 in a hybrid format, so students could attend field trips in person or via live streaming.

��As a former journalist, I recalled 바카라사이트 power of being live as opposed to pre-recorded. I could have gone out and filmed videos of 바카라사이트 site visits, but I wanted 바카라사이트 students to be able to tune in, watch live and be able to interact,�� he said.

Professor Rouyer said he was encouraged to try out 바카라사이트 idea during 바카라사이트 pandemic because it was a time of experimentation. ��If I fall flat on my face, 바카라사이트 students will probably be forgiving for having tried something different,�� he said.

He described his role as being like a tour guide but said he also felt like an octopus, requiring multiple arms at times while juggling bits of equipment and streaming platforms.

Professor?Rouyer doesn��t believe that remote mobile field trips will ever be as good as being 바카라사이트re in person �C and describes it as being a bit like black-and-white TV versus colour �C but says it is still better than nothing, and students seemed to get quite a lot out of 바카라사이트 online experience.

Ano바카라사이트r professor who read about 바카라사이트 original pilot has already reached out for technical details and tried it herself. In an ideal world, he thinks institutions could create live-streaming kits that academics could check out from 바카라사이트 library, in 바카라사이트 form of a backpack with all 바카라사이트 equipment and 바카라사이트 data plan that��s needed.

tom.williams@ws-2000.com