VIRTUAL MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY
Abstract
Recent advances in 360 photo and video capture technology, interactive online tour design software and generative AI have included a focus on making these technologies available to non-specialist users. These have created unique opportunities for educators to explore novel, situational learning approaches in higher education settings. Herein we demonstrate how these new technological avenues can be exploited to create learning and assessment strategies that shift the focus from artifacts to authentic, contextually relevant experiences for students, which are key to achieving complex or deeper learning. In this study we focus specifically on digital redefinition of industrial site visits, which have always had a unique and valuable impact in terms of engaging students with scientific theory and practical aspects in applied contexts and at amplified scales. However, traditional site visits are often hampered by resource demands, logistical challenges and limited scalability in terms of student cohort sizes. The VISTA project, funded via the Higher Education Authority of Ireland SATLE fund, explored technological advances in non-expert user 360 cameras, image manipulation software, generative artificial intelligence, and virtual tour creation/hosting sites to transform both the concept and the experience of industrial site visits. Herein we report the design, development and deployment of this novel approach with undergraduate students in the School of Microbiology at University College Cork to provide photorealistic, interactive, multiplatform, virtual access to industrial sites, together with AI based manipulations to create unique experiential learning opportunities. Aspects of scalability, sustainability and adaptability are also highlighted together with insights on institutional responsibilities and advantages in supporting same.
Niall O’Leary – Senior Lecturer and BSc Programme Director in the School of Microbiology at University College Cork with >20 years’ experience. In addition to a PhD in environmental microbiology I hold an MA in teaching and learning in higher education, with 10 years experience as a Fellow of UCC’s Centre for the Integration of Research Teaching and Learning (CIRTL). International Collaborator in the Artificial Intelligence in Education at Oxford University (AIEOU) research hub. Awardee of the President’s Prize for Teaching Excellence and collaborator in National award winning teaching research initiative.
Jerry Reen joined UCC’s School of Microbiology faculty in 2017. His research focuses on deciphering communication systems in polymicrobial-host interactions for human and ecosystem health, and developing green sustainable solutions for the (Bio)Pharma industry. His lab was the first at UCC to achieve Bronze LEAF status, subsequently earning the highest Green Certification from My Green Lab and Research Ireland for sustainable research practices. Jerry’s award-winning teaching innovations emphasize universality, inclusivity, and neurodiversity. He champions student-partnered virtual reality simulations and community-engaged learning, using these pedagogical tools to facilitate access to challenging abstract concepts.