By Sophie Ward and Lindsay Pantry
360 media has so many pedagogical benefits - allowing the user to engage with their surroundings, go to places they wouldn’t normally go, or have experiences that might be unsafe or impossible to visit.
Lindsay Pantry from the School of Journalism, Media and Communication attended an Elevate workshop on Wonda VR which introduced the platform and its possibilities. Lindsay subsequently created a News gathering scene, based on a local 'crime scene'.
Former Yorkshire Post reporter Lindsay led the team, developing the storyline, script, set and props, and was assisted by Mughebur Shaha, the School's Creative Media Technician, and Sophie Ward, a Digital Learning Advisor. Lindsay's colleagues Lisa Bradley, Will Oliphant and Jenny Eells were roped in to act as interviewees in the project.
The project has been used with first years when they are learning the basics of news writing, but virtual reality technology gives us the opportunity to go one step further, by showing the students what it’s really like to be outside a crime scene and interviewing neighbours and witnesses on the street.
The scene helps prepare students for life as a Journalist after University and is a great way to promote employability skills through encouraging observations around the scene and focuses on different questioning techniques during interviews.
The scene has been well received by staff and students with staff commenting:
- "It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to make the experience, and it's made me think more creatively about my workshop sessions"
- "It was a great opportunity for students to experience going out on a story, interviewing people and making decisions without having to leave the classroom"
- "We saw a lot of students using the material from the vr session in their final assessment"
- "Some of the students were really excited about using the VR headsets, and gave great feedback about how realistic it felt"
- "The stories the students wrote from using the experience were a lot more in depth than similar ones written using press releases."
To hear more about this particular scene, our video includes Lindsay and Sophie explaining the process in more detail.
If you’re interested in using Wonda VR please keep a look out for future Elevate Wonda VR introduction workshops for all staff and if you’d like to discuss a specific idea of how you might use 360 media teaching and learning you can book a 1:1 with a member of the digital learning team.
Sophie Ward is a Digital Learning Advisor in the Digital Learning Team.
Lindsay Pantry is a teacher in the School of Journalism, Media and Communication