Field & Screen (Jim Egenrieder, Virginia Tech)

Wired Ivy

Imagine a traditional college class. Chances are, you'll picture an instructor standing in front of a chalkboard, whiteboard, or projection screen in a room or auditorium of seated students taking notes. At the same time, you know from your own educational experiences that learning isn't limited to to lectures, discussion, lab, or field trips during the scheduled meeting time. For example, readings and homework assignments completed outside of the classroom are included in the time-based calculation of credit hours. Depending on the subject, instructors may also include independent activities designed to move students out into the world as a way of deepening their understanding of the topic at hand.
Understandably, faculty teaching for-credit distance education courses have tended to follow the familiar format, with the primary difference being how the instruction time activities are delivered — live-streaming or pre-recorded. Yet, educators often struggle with how to include fieldwork, broadly defined, when the course is delivered in the virtual classroom, if they even recognize this type of assignment as an option.
With video conferencing fatigue taking a toll on students and faculty alike, what better time to consider adding some physically active learning assignments to your syllabus? Our guest for this week's episode, Jim Egenrieder of Virginia Tech, provides inspiration and tips for integrating Field & Screen.