Footprints in the sky: using student track logs from a "bird's eye view" virtual field trip to enhance learning

Research into virtual field trips (VFTs) started in the 1990s but, only recently, the maturing technology of devices and networks has made them viable options for educational settings. By considering an experiment, the learning benefits of logging the movement of students within a VFT are shown. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of geography in higher education Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 97 - 110
Main Authors Treves, Richard, Viterbo, Paolo, Haklay, Mordechai (Muki)
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Routledge 02.01.2015
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Animation
Computer Simulation
Computer Software
Data Collection
Educational Practices
Educational technology
Experiments
Field Trips
Foreign Countries
Geography
geovisualization
Google Earth
Higher Education
Learning
learning analytics
Paleontology
Teaching Methods
Technology Uses in Education
tracking
United Kingdom
Virtual Classrooms
virtual field trip
Virtual reality
Visualization
United Kingdom
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Summary:Research into virtual field trips (VFTs) started in the 1990s but, only recently, the maturing technology of devices and networks has made them viable options for educational settings. By considering an experiment, the learning benefits of logging the movement of students within a VFT are shown. The data are visualized by two techniques: "animated path maps" are dynamic animations of students' movement in a VFT; "paint spray maps" show where students concentrated their visual attention and are static. A technique for producing these visualizations is described and the educational use of tracking data in VFTs is critically discussed.
ISSN:0309-8265
1466-1845
DOI:10.1080/03098265.2014.1003798