The Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable (TLTR) congratulates the winners of Technology for Innovative Learning & Teaching Pilot Project Grants for 2022.

VR Tours: Stories of Austin

Kim Garza, Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Steven Fletcher, Associate Professor, Teaching, Learning, and Culture

Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset & Controllers

VR Tours: Stories of Austin is a collaborative, interdisciplinary project where EDUC and UXDE students will create an immersive virtual reality (VR) tour for public use that tells stories of important public places in Austin, such as parks, museums, and cultural landmarks. EDUC students will focus on observation and exploration of a space within the context of learning objectives. UXDE students will focus on the choreography of moving through the space and the overlay of relevant information. Both sets of students will learn from each others’ perspectives and engagement with Austin’s public places. Everyone walks away with practical skills in VR that apply to a myriad of contexts from the classroom to video games, training simulations, museums, and more. Through VR Tours: Stories of Austin, our students will develop a thoughtful approach to VR that considers its power to foster wonder, build empathy, and teach about the world.

Peter Beck, “Optical Equipment for Wildlife Observation and Citizen Science”, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy

I am requesting funding to purchase equipment so that St. Edward’s can offer a course focusing on the study of birds. Birds are very difficult to see closely enough to study without binoculars and based on my previous experience, very few students own binoculars. As currently we do not offer a course focusing on the study of birds, I am designing a course that will involve significant fieldwork studying birds in which binoculars will be essential. Additionally, the binoculars can be used in other courses as Amy Concilio (ENSP), Elijah Wostl (BIOL) and Kim O’Keefe (BIOL) have mentioned they will use them in their courses that study wildlife. In addition, they can be used by students conducting research with Darren Proppe at Wild Basin. In addition to course and research use, students will be able to participate in citizen science and community activities such as Audubon’s Birdathon, Lights Out surveys and Great Backyard Bird Count.

Find out about previously funded projects on the Pilot Projects webpage.