BC eLearning Makes a Case: Using Virtual Reality Tech for Teaching at Bellevue College
On October 18th, 19th and 20th members of the Bellevue College eLearning Center staff attended the 2017 NWeLearn Conference, which promotes itself as the place “where teaching, learning and technology converge”.
The reason for this trip was to connect with other tech-based educators in the Northwest, discuss online teaching issues and introduce virtual reality displays as an emerging approach for technology-enhanced education. We also laid out our plan for teaching two new courses in virtual reality design and communications at Bellevue College as a way to bring attention to this new medium, for students and faculty alike.
How to Connect Worlds 8000 Miles Apart
Makerspaces are technology equipped informal learning spaces that put mentors and students together to build projects ranging from drones to virtual reality communities. Fulbright scholar James Riggall has spent close to a decade creating makerspaces in Tasmania, notably in the cities of Launceston and Hobart.
During the conference, Riggall outlined his plan for helping Bellevue College create a makerspace learning community at the RISE project-based teaching center and BC library Collaboratory space. A long distance learning lab is planned to make use of virtual reality networking, video conferencing, and other communications tools to connect makerspace teams in Tasmania and Bellevue College.
Opening the Doors of Perception with VR
A primary objective for the Bellevue College eLearning team was to provide hands-on immersive virtual reality experiences to online teaching administrators and instructors – most of whom had never tried it before. For many, it was a transformative experience.
eLearning faculty from all over the Northwest had a chance to try virtual reality for the first time, with comments such as “Amazing”,
“Wow”, “Fantastic”, and “I’ve never seen anything like this!”.
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Roll On Columbia
On the road back from Pasco to Seattle, Washington, members of the BC eLearning crew Keith Rowley, James Riggall and Bruce Wolcott stopped for a photo break on the Columbia River. The sudden switch from green Cascade Mountains to the dry arid plains of Eastern Washington was a startling change for Tasmania native James Riggall.
