Backstory
Fulbright scholar James Riggall and Bellevue College faculty member Bruce Wolcott began their long distance co-teaching relationship in 2010 while working for the Human Interface Technology Lab (HITLab) at the University of Tasmania. The HITLab as well as the Fundamentals of Interactive Entertainment course was made possible through the efforts of virtual reality pioneer, Dr. Thomas Furness.
This teaching relationship formed the basis for James Riggall’s residential Fulbright scholarship at Bellevue College.
First Generation: Long Distance Learning Lab
This original course connected Furness’ lab near the University of Washington in Seattle to a HITLab classroom at the University of Tasmania. These locations are separated by over 8000 miles and provided and Riggall and Wolcott an excellent opportunity to experiment with a variety of strategies for Web-based teaching and learning over long distances.
Wolcott delivered live lectures and interviewed guest presenters coming from the video game, scientific visualization, and VR-related industries in the Seattle area.
Riggall organized hands-on lab sessions as well as discussions on location at the University of Tasmania. The course combined theory with hands-on project-based learning.
Follow Up
While the Fundamentals of Interactive Entertainment course ran from 2010 to 2012, Riggall and Wolcott remained in contact with each other, and collaborated on a variety of projects in the years since then.
Beginning in 2016, efforts began to bring James Riggall to Bellevue College via a Fulbright scholarship to help organize the Collaboratory space in Bellevue College’s Learning Media Center, as well as teach courses and make valuable networking contacts in the Pacific Northwest. He also is co-designing a course on Virtual Worlds with Bruce Wolcott to expand the scope of the long distance learning lab and build a continuing relationship between Bellevue College and Launceston teaching organizations.
Although Riggall and Wolcott have been working virtually together since 2010 they didn’t meet physically until September 15, 2017 in the Bellevue College eLearning Center, when Riggall arrived for his Fulbright scholarship.
