1 00:00:00,503 --> 00:00:02,340 (upbeat music) 2 00:00:02,340 --> 00:00:03,780 Mary Loder- Welcome to Course Stories 3 00:00:03,780 --> 00:00:06,510 produced by the Instructional Design and New Media Team 4 00:00:06,510 --> 00:00:09,450 of EdPlus at Arizona State University. 5 00:00:09,450 --> 00:00:12,150 In this podcast we tell an array of course design stories 6 00:00:12,150 --> 00:00:16,050 alongside other ASU online designers and faculty. 7 00:00:16,050 --> 00:00:18,060 On today's Course Story. 8 00:00:18,060 --> 00:00:20,970 Rachael Kaye - You are on a plane flying into the eye of a hurricane. 9 00:00:20,970 --> 00:00:22,260 This is what hurricane hunters do. 10 00:00:22,260 --> 00:00:23,520 They're a part of the Air Force, 11 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,230 so it is a real-life career. 12 00:00:25,230 --> 00:00:26,610 I know people who have done it. 13 00:00:26,610 --> 00:00:28,230 It's not something most students would get to do 14 00:00:28,230 --> 00:00:29,520 as a part of a normal course, 15 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:31,920 nor would they probably want to, 16 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,440 but this gives them the opportunity to do it safely. 17 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,810 Christine Moore - They would never get to do something like that 18 00:00:36,810 --> 00:00:39,120 with a traditional resource or reading about it in a book 19 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:41,190 or even watching a video about it. 20 00:00:41,190 --> 00:00:44,850 They actually have the opportunity to release the dropsonde, 21 00:00:44,850 --> 00:00:48,300 watch the data come in on the instrument, 22 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:50,550 and then read the instrument, and then report it, 23 00:00:50,550 --> 00:00:54,180 the way that a hurricane hunter would do in the field. 24 00:00:54,180 --> 00:00:55,650 You just would not be able to do that 25 00:00:55,650 --> 00:00:57,575 with traditional resources. 26 00:00:57,575 --> 00:00:59,490 (upbeat music) 27 00:00:59,490 --> 00:01:00,990 Mary - Hi, I'm Mary Loder, 28 00:01:00,990 --> 00:01:02,970 an instructional designer from ASU Online. 29 00:01:02,970 --> 00:01:04,290 Elizabeth Blythe-Lee- I'm Elizabeth Blythe, 30 00:01:04,290 --> 00:01:07,110 a senior instructional designer at Arizona State University. 31 00:01:07,110 --> 00:01:07,943 Ricardo Leon- I'm Ricardo Leon. 32 00:01:07,943 --> 00:01:10,230 I'm a media specialist at the same place. 33 00:01:10,230 --> 00:01:11,100 Mary - Yeah, we work together. 34 00:01:11,100 --> 00:01:12,334 Ricardo - Let's get on with the show. 35 00:01:12,334 --> 00:01:13,167 Ricardo- Okay. 36 00:01:15,746 --> 00:01:16,579 Mary- Okay. 37 00:01:17,636 --> 00:01:19,357 Elizabeth - Who's gonna say it first? 38 00:01:19,357 --> 00:01:21,603 (laughing) 39 00:01:21,603 --> 00:01:24,360 Ricardo - Hi, Mary Liz. Hi, me, Ricardo. 40 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:25,920 Mary - Hi, Ricardo. Hi, Liz. 41 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:27,510 Elizabeth - Hi, Ricardo. Hi, Mary. 42 00:01:27,510 --> 00:01:28,500 Mary- Nice to see you guys. 43 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:29,646 Elizabeth- It's so good to see you guys. 44 00:01:29,646 --> 00:01:31,980 Mary - It's been a long time. Elizabeth - So long. 45 00:01:31,980 --> 00:01:33,450 Ricardo - It's nice to see you guys in person 46 00:01:33,450 --> 00:01:36,210 as opposed to virtual reality, 47 00:01:36,210 --> 00:01:37,200 which is the subject, 48 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,180 which is kind of part of the subject 49 00:01:39,180 --> 00:01:40,950 of today's episode. Mary- Oh, absolutely. 50 00:01:40,950 --> 00:01:42,150 Elizabeth- Oh yeah, I'm into it. 51 00:01:42,150 --> 00:01:44,010 I actually can't be here anymore 52 00:01:44,010 --> 00:01:46,740 because I have to leave to go take this class right now. 53 00:01:46,740 --> 00:01:48,210 Mary- It's an amazing course. 54 00:01:48,210 --> 00:01:49,320 And it was already good 55 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,870 before the integration of the project 56 00:01:51,870 --> 00:01:53,280 that we're gonna talk about in this episode, 57 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:54,637 because Rachael Kaye was actually 58 00:01:54,637 --> 00:01:58,020 one of our ASU Online Faculty showcase members last year 59 00:01:58,020 --> 00:02:00,450 for her integration of intentional media, 60 00:02:00,450 --> 00:02:01,740 the use of Playposit, 61 00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:03,600 like she's already a very thoughtful instructor, 62 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:05,580 which you'll see through the conversation. 63 00:02:05,580 --> 00:02:07,320 Elizabeth - There's something about these GPH courses 64 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,620 where all the faculty are unbelievably bright 65 00:02:10,620 --> 00:02:14,790 and so fun to talk to, to work with, to be around. 66 00:02:14,790 --> 00:02:17,430 But each of their courses does a really good job 67 00:02:17,430 --> 00:02:20,070 with considering intentionality 68 00:02:20,070 --> 00:02:23,850 and real world information and skills that they can use, 69 00:02:23,850 --> 00:02:26,130 not just to like, get through this class, 70 00:02:26,130 --> 00:02:27,120 or get through their program, 71 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,510 but like, stuff that you need to know to do today. 72 00:02:30,510 --> 00:02:32,690 Mary - To be a human. Elizabeth - Yeah, to be a human 73 00:02:32,690 --> 00:02:35,100 on the planet and surviving a hurricane, 74 00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:36,300 as we're gonna talk about, 75 00:02:36,300 --> 00:02:40,770 I'm very invested in the storyline that we talk about today. 76 00:02:40,770 --> 00:02:42,870 Ricardo - For season five of Course Stories, 77 00:02:42,870 --> 00:02:45,780 this is the first episode of this brand new season, 78 00:02:45,780 --> 00:02:48,783 a season full of all kinds of really great things. 79 00:02:48,783 --> 00:02:50,460 Now, what are we gonna listen to today? 80 00:02:50,460 --> 00:02:53,670 Elizabeth - So, today we are talking to the faculty and designers 81 00:02:53,670 --> 00:02:56,190 behind the GPH-212 course, 82 00:02:56,190 --> 00:02:58,170 which is Introduction to Meteorology. 83 00:02:58,170 --> 00:03:00,870 Christine Moore, veteran instructional designer, 84 00:03:00,870 --> 00:03:02,400 friend of the pod, 85 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,100 she talks to and interviews Robert LiKamWa, 86 00:03:05,100 --> 00:03:07,980 who is an associate professor at Arizona State University. 87 00:03:07,980 --> 00:03:09,150 And for this episode, 88 00:03:09,150 --> 00:03:11,490 most notably directs the METEOR Studio. 89 00:03:11,490 --> 00:03:14,280 Mary - And it stands for Mobile Experiential Technology 90 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,100 Through Embedded Optimization Research. 91 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:18,540 But basically it's arts, media, 92 00:03:18,540 --> 00:03:20,100 and engineering coming together 93 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:21,930 to create immersive experiences. 94 00:03:21,930 --> 00:03:24,450 Elizabeth - We also sit down with Rachael Kaye, 95 00:03:24,450 --> 00:03:26,670 who is a meteorologist and instructor 96 00:03:26,670 --> 00:03:28,410 at Arizona State University. 97 00:03:28,410 --> 00:03:31,530 And most importantly, beyond being a PhD student, 98 00:03:31,530 --> 00:03:32,363 which is really cool, 99 00:03:32,363 --> 00:03:34,350 she's a two-time Emmy Award winner 100 00:03:34,350 --> 00:03:37,290 for her work in meteorology broadcasting. 101 00:03:37,290 --> 00:03:38,310 Mary - Christine just posted on it 102 00:03:38,310 --> 00:03:39,420 and they were like, all excited. 103 00:03:39,420 --> 00:03:41,940 And the picture was so cute. 104 00:03:41,940 --> 00:03:43,050 But they did put in there, 105 00:03:43,050 --> 00:03:45,480 led by Emmy Award-winning meteorologist Rachael Kaye, 106 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,610 under the advisement of Robert LiKamWa, 107 00:03:47,610 --> 00:03:49,830 and then mentioned you next. 108 00:03:49,830 --> 00:03:53,220 Ricardo Leon as a supporting member of their success. 109 00:03:53,220 --> 00:03:55,174 Ricardo - I support their success. 110 00:03:55,174 --> 00:03:57,330 I've been part of the scripting process a little bit, 111 00:03:57,330 --> 00:03:59,280 and it's just really cool to see it grow 112 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,220 and shape up into being something really cool. 113 00:04:02,220 --> 00:04:04,350 So if you have money to give 114 00:04:04,350 --> 00:04:07,650 to help them work on this project, go ahead, give it. 115 00:04:07,650 --> 00:04:08,850 Give it, reach out to us, 116 00:04:08,850 --> 00:04:10,800 and we'll connect you with Rachael. 117 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,230 I think Rachael also gives some contact information 118 00:04:13,230 --> 00:04:14,790 at the end of the episode as well. 119 00:04:14,790 --> 00:04:16,290 But yeah, it's a really exciting project 120 00:04:16,290 --> 00:04:19,380 and we're very happy to feature it here on Course Stories. 121 00:04:19,380 --> 00:04:20,760 Elizabeth - It's a star-studded episode. 122 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:22,680 It's going to be a movie like, someone's, 123 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,640 who do you think is gonna play you in the real life movie? 124 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,200 Ricardo- I, well, offer only, I only play myself. 125 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:29,896 Elizabeth - Oh, that's great. 126 00:04:29,896 --> 00:04:32,479 (upbeat music) 127 00:04:33,450 --> 00:04:34,283 Christine Moore- Hi everyone. 128 00:04:34,283 --> 00:04:35,220 My name is Christine Moore 129 00:04:35,220 --> 00:04:36,690 and I'm an instructional designer 130 00:04:36,690 --> 00:04:38,880 with EdPlus at ASU Online. 131 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,030 Today we're discussing GPH-212, 132 00:04:42,030 --> 00:04:44,910 Introduction to Meteorology. 133 00:04:44,910 --> 00:04:48,360 And joining us today is the instructor 134 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:50,790 and additional project manager 135 00:04:50,790 --> 00:04:52,560 for a component of the course. 136 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:54,900 Why don't you all go ahead and introduce yourselves? 137 00:04:54,900 --> 00:04:56,580 Rachael Kaye- Sure. I am Rachael Kaye. 138 00:04:56,580 --> 00:04:59,640 I am the instructor for GPH-212. 139 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,460 It's Intro to Meteorology and the accompanying lab. 140 00:05:02,460 --> 00:05:04,770 And for our project that we'll be discussing today, 141 00:05:04,770 --> 00:05:06,450 I am the subject matter expert 142 00:05:06,450 --> 00:05:08,760 and also a PhD student under... 143 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,730 Dr. Robert LiKamWa- Dr. Robert LiKamWa. So great to be here. 144 00:05:11,730 --> 00:05:13,560 I'm a professor, associate professor, 145 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:15,210 in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering 146 00:05:15,210 --> 00:05:17,010 and the School of Electrical Computer 147 00:05:17,010 --> 00:05:18,600 and Energy Engineering. 148 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:20,940 And I direct this lab, which we call METERO Studio, 149 00:05:20,940 --> 00:05:23,490 where we do research on augmented reality 150 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:24,600 and virtual reality. 151 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:26,400 And we're also a big production studio. 152 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,500 So we have a bunch of students designing 153 00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:30,780 new forms of XR material. 154 00:05:30,780 --> 00:05:32,070 Christine- All right, well, let's give our listeners 155 00:05:32,070 --> 00:05:34,920 a little bit of background on the course. 156 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,380 Rachael, why don't you tell us how this course came about, 157 00:05:37,380 --> 00:05:39,000 maybe some of the learning objectives 158 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,220 and just some high level information. 159 00:05:41,220 --> 00:05:43,350 Rachael- So, I'll start by saying I am specifically 160 00:05:43,350 --> 00:05:45,540 the instructor for the online course. 161 00:05:45,540 --> 00:05:47,640 There is an on-campus version as well 162 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:48,960 that's taught by another professor. 163 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,200 So I joined unofficially a couple years ago 164 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,900 and started developing the online course from scratch, 165 00:05:54,900 --> 00:05:56,520 which was a big adventure, 166 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,170 not something I'd ever done before, 167 00:05:58,170 --> 00:06:00,120 but with a background in meteorology 168 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,580 and almost a decade in broadcast meteorology, 169 00:06:02,580 --> 00:06:05,010 it was a lot of fun for me to develop those lectures 170 00:06:05,010 --> 00:06:07,140 and put together a really interactive course. 171 00:06:07,140 --> 00:06:10,500 I wanted it to feel fun because weather should be fun. 172 00:06:10,500 --> 00:06:13,860 And so I developed a seven module online class. 173 00:06:13,860 --> 00:06:15,450 And then the accompanying lab, 174 00:06:15,450 --> 00:06:18,840 we cover everything from how clouds form, 175 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:22,140 how precipitation forms, storm systems, 176 00:06:22,140 --> 00:06:25,290 the forecasting process and careers in meteorology, too. 177 00:06:25,290 --> 00:06:27,030 Christine- And I have to jump in and say 178 00:06:27,030 --> 00:06:30,600 that it is a fun course and it is an exciting course. 179 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,140 And one of the joys of being an instructional designer 180 00:06:34,140 --> 00:06:36,180 is working with new instructors 181 00:06:36,180 --> 00:06:39,180 because Rachael did come to us as a subject matter expert 182 00:06:39,180 --> 00:06:43,020 and hadn't developed or taught in higher ed before. 183 00:06:43,020 --> 00:06:46,800 And she 100% came in with fresh ideas, 184 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,090 ready and willing to design kind of whatever we needed. 185 00:06:51,090 --> 00:06:52,950 She did all of the technological 186 00:06:52,950 --> 00:06:54,600 behind the scenes work herself. 187 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,960 She learned HTML, she learned all of the LTIs 188 00:06:57,960 --> 00:06:59,670 that she used in her course 189 00:06:59,670 --> 00:07:01,980 and designed those assets herself. 190 00:07:01,980 --> 00:07:05,250 She has an incredibly fresh and interesting take 191 00:07:05,250 --> 00:07:08,760 on meteorology being both a subject matter expert 192 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:10,230 and also a broadcaster. 193 00:07:10,230 --> 00:07:13,770 So, students get a really robust and interesting 194 00:07:13,770 --> 00:07:17,070 and exciting look at something we see every day, 195 00:07:17,070 --> 00:07:18,060 which is weather. 196 00:07:18,060 --> 00:07:20,400 Rachael - It always feels a little weird to like, brag, 197 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,460 but one thing that I do think was a strength 198 00:07:23,460 --> 00:07:24,630 coming into building the class 199 00:07:24,630 --> 00:07:26,550 was my background in broadcasting. 200 00:07:26,550 --> 00:07:28,950 I took kind of unofficial course surveys 201 00:07:28,950 --> 00:07:31,500 at the end of the first few runs of the class. 202 00:07:31,500 --> 00:07:33,090 And a lot of students through that, 203 00:07:33,090 --> 00:07:34,800 or even just through emails, were telling me like, 204 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:35,880 these are some of the best lectures 205 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,130 that I've seen in any of my online classes, 206 00:07:38,130 --> 00:07:39,870 and that they were more engaging. 207 00:07:39,870 --> 00:07:42,630 I know you guys have this amazing media studio here 208 00:07:42,630 --> 00:07:43,680 to record. 209 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,320 I did start close enough to the pandemic 210 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,510 where I was still recording lectures from home. 211 00:07:48,510 --> 00:07:50,160 By the end, I probably could have been coming in. 212 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,070 But just for consistency, I kind of kept up my setup, 213 00:07:53,070 --> 00:07:54,810 and I made sure that I had like, 214 00:07:54,810 --> 00:07:57,330 a good microphone and good lighting. 215 00:07:57,330 --> 00:07:59,010 Christine - So while we were designing the class, 216 00:07:59,010 --> 00:08:00,750 we always had this idea 217 00:08:00,750 --> 00:08:04,440 of having really high quality visual elements, 218 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,350 but we did run into some issues. 219 00:08:07,350 --> 00:08:09,630 Tell us a little bit about the course 220 00:08:09,630 --> 00:08:12,270 and the technological components, 221 00:08:12,270 --> 00:08:14,730 and the learning objectives that we were trying to meet. 222 00:08:14,730 --> 00:08:15,563 Rachael - I think one of the things 223 00:08:15,563 --> 00:08:17,310 that's really unique about meteorology 224 00:08:17,310 --> 00:08:19,530 is that weather affects everybody. 225 00:08:19,530 --> 00:08:22,710 And even if you're not a scientist 226 00:08:22,710 --> 00:08:24,690 or you don't think that this is something 227 00:08:24,690 --> 00:08:25,590 you're gonna wanna pursue, 228 00:08:25,590 --> 00:08:27,930 it's gonna teach you more about something 229 00:08:27,930 --> 00:08:29,340 that impacts your everyday life. 230 00:08:29,340 --> 00:08:31,800 And I really wanted to drive that home for students 231 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,890 by showing them connections to what we're learning, 232 00:08:34,890 --> 00:08:38,430 from what we're learning in class to the real world. 233 00:08:38,430 --> 00:08:40,680 So like one of the tools that we used 234 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:42,810 was what we deemed our weather wows. 235 00:08:42,810 --> 00:08:44,520 So each module of the course 236 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,590 starts off with a weather wow moment. 237 00:08:46,590 --> 00:08:50,130 And these are short, honestly, mostly viral videos. 238 00:08:50,130 --> 00:08:52,350 A lot of them are like, they're meant to be quick and fun, 239 00:08:52,350 --> 00:08:55,110 and students watch them at the start of the module. 240 00:08:55,110 --> 00:08:57,210 And it's kind of a hint as to the topics 241 00:08:57,210 --> 00:08:59,250 we're gonna be learning about in more detail. 242 00:08:59,250 --> 00:09:01,980 So an example, I don't know if you guys here have ever seen, 243 00:09:01,980 --> 00:09:03,960 but it's really, because we're in Arizona, 244 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,840 in cold climates, when it's winter, 245 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:08,970 it's a fun like, social media trend 246 00:09:08,970 --> 00:09:11,340 to take a cup of boiling water outside 247 00:09:11,340 --> 00:09:14,400 and throw it and watch it turn to ice instantly. 248 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,790 And so I had a video of that in the module 249 00:09:17,790 --> 00:09:21,300 on precipitation and cloud formation, condensation. 250 00:09:21,300 --> 00:09:22,920 So, they watched this fun video. 251 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:24,090 Then we learned about the process 252 00:09:24,090 --> 00:09:26,850 of how that actually happens scientifically. 253 00:09:26,850 --> 00:09:28,860 And then in the study guide for that module, 254 00:09:28,860 --> 00:09:31,320 before we get to the assessments and the quiz, 255 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,130 we return to that video in a tool called Playposit, 256 00:09:35,130 --> 00:09:37,410 which pauses the video throughout 257 00:09:37,410 --> 00:09:39,030 and lets students answer questions. 258 00:09:39,030 --> 00:09:41,760 So it's kind of tying everything back together. 259 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,970 So we really tried to create interactive 260 00:09:44,970 --> 00:09:48,180 and interesting course elements along those lines. 261 00:09:48,180 --> 00:09:51,000 Christine - And very multimedia. Rachael- Yes! Christine - Very multimedia. 262 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,800 Christine- There's video, Playposit, YouTube, lecture, podcasts. 263 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:56,880 Are there any podcasts? 264 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:57,840 Rachael - Yes. Yeah. 265 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,780 Module seven on careers in meteorology. 266 00:10:00,780 --> 00:10:03,450 The American Meteorological Society has a podcast. 267 00:10:03,450 --> 00:10:04,830 Christine - And the students also reach out 268 00:10:04,830 --> 00:10:06,990 to meteorologists in the field 269 00:10:06,990 --> 00:10:08,910 as one of the assignments, don't they? 270 00:10:08,910 --> 00:10:10,270 Rachael- I'm pausing because I think- 271 00:10:10,270 --> 00:10:11,103 Christine - Yes, they do. 272 00:10:11,103 --> 00:10:12,057 Rachael - Yes, no, I wanted to remember 273 00:10:12,057 --> 00:10:13,200 if it was in the lecture or the lab. 274 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:14,730 They do. It's in the lab. 275 00:10:14,730 --> 00:10:15,960 But yeah, so anyway, 276 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,840 we have all of these really interactive elements, 277 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,350 but when it comes to something like storm safety, 278 00:10:22,350 --> 00:10:24,630 which I think is so underrated 279 00:10:24,630 --> 00:10:26,100 in intro to meteorology classes, 280 00:10:26,100 --> 00:10:27,990 I'll say this, it wasn't even a part of the textbook. 281 00:10:27,990 --> 00:10:29,400 And I was like, well, 282 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:32,010 we're gonna put it in the module on severe weather anyway. 283 00:10:32,010 --> 00:10:33,360 Because what's the point 284 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,340 of just learning about severe weather 285 00:10:35,340 --> 00:10:37,560 if you're not gonna follow that as a career path, 286 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:39,600 yeah, there's some interest and value to that, 287 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:41,130 but the real value is in knowing 288 00:10:41,130 --> 00:10:43,440 how to respond to the severe weather. 289 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,120 Christine - Right, talk about something students 290 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,250 would actually use in their life. 291 00:10:47,250 --> 00:10:49,860 Not just what types of clouds are out there 292 00:10:49,860 --> 00:10:52,890 or how the weather associations work, 293 00:10:52,890 --> 00:10:55,080 but how to actually save yourself 294 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:56,790 when the waters are rising. 295 00:10:56,790 --> 00:10:59,820 Rachael - And I would've felt like it was such a disservice 296 00:10:59,820 --> 00:11:02,250 to my students if they left my class without knowing 297 00:11:02,250 --> 00:11:04,260 how to stay safe if they found themselves 298 00:11:04,260 --> 00:11:05,340 in a tornado warning. 299 00:11:05,340 --> 00:11:07,620 So I incorporated lectures on that 300 00:11:07,620 --> 00:11:11,100 and then when we started looking for more interactive tools 301 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:14,460 to really engage students and drive those messages home, 302 00:11:14,460 --> 00:11:16,800 that's where we started to hit some more challenges. 303 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:18,390 Christine, you recommended looking into 304 00:11:18,390 --> 00:11:20,100 some interactive documentaries. 305 00:11:20,100 --> 00:11:23,940 We have a really great one that has a big emotional pull. 306 00:11:23,940 --> 00:11:26,790 It's one of my discussions for that module 307 00:11:26,790 --> 00:11:30,690 where students watch basically an individual, 308 00:11:30,690 --> 00:11:32,880 really talented storytellers experience, 309 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,490 living through the Tuscaloosa, Alabama tornado 310 00:11:35,490 --> 00:11:37,590 and how his community reacted to that. 311 00:11:37,590 --> 00:11:39,960 It's difficult to watch it. It is really emotional. 312 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,180 Christine - It is. It pulls out your heartstrings. 313 00:11:42,180 --> 00:11:44,340 And you can't get through it without a little tear. 314 00:11:44,340 --> 00:11:45,960 Rachael - Yeah, but it does spark 315 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:48,710 some really interesting conversation with the students. 316 00:11:49,620 --> 00:11:51,390 But we wanted to take that further, right? 317 00:11:51,390 --> 00:11:53,730 We wanted, now that they have the emotional pull, 318 00:11:53,730 --> 00:11:56,610 but how can they then start to practice that themselves? 319 00:11:56,610 --> 00:12:01,230 Christine - Exactly, and practicing it is where Robert comes in. 320 00:12:01,230 --> 00:12:04,830 And we tried to design some kind of learning experience 321 00:12:04,830 --> 00:12:07,020 where students would have the ability 322 00:12:07,020 --> 00:12:11,280 to feel what it's like to be in a weather emergency. 323 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:12,420 And then, just as you said, 324 00:12:12,420 --> 00:12:15,060 practice how to keep themselves safe. 325 00:12:15,060 --> 00:12:18,280 So Robert, why don't you tell us how you enter the story? 326 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,000 Robert - Yeah, popping into this from a different perspective, 327 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,610 we have this augmented reality, virtual reality studio. 328 00:12:23,610 --> 00:12:26,610 We're always hungry for really meaningful projects 329 00:12:26,610 --> 00:12:27,930 to attach ourselves to. 330 00:12:27,930 --> 00:12:31,050 With immersive narratives, you can tell compelling stories. 331 00:12:31,050 --> 00:12:33,480 So we're looking always for the right stories to tell 332 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:35,970 with big learning objectives that drive 333 00:12:35,970 --> 00:12:38,760 what kinds of stories, what kinds of experiences, 334 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:41,100 what kinds of interactive things, 335 00:12:41,100 --> 00:12:45,000 where we wanna place the students, the learners, 336 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,780 inside of these situations in a really visceral way. 337 00:12:48,780 --> 00:12:49,920 And that's something that, you know, 338 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,070 these gamified experiences have the ability to do. 339 00:12:53,070 --> 00:12:55,890 And so we were hungry for those kind of opportunities. 340 00:12:55,890 --> 00:12:57,750 And when we were able to connect on this 341 00:12:57,750 --> 00:13:01,680 around GPH-212 Introduction to Meteorology course, 342 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:03,270 I think we landed on some really, 343 00:13:03,270 --> 00:13:05,670 really exciting opportunities here. 344 00:13:05,670 --> 00:13:08,550 Weather phenomena, it's just really great to immerse people 345 00:13:08,550 --> 00:13:10,380 inside of the different lenses, 346 00:13:10,380 --> 00:13:13,530 the different aspects of careers in meteorology, 347 00:13:13,530 --> 00:13:16,170 which is actually what we landed on with our experience. 348 00:13:16,170 --> 00:13:17,940 So it's been really, really great, 349 00:13:17,940 --> 00:13:19,590 Really, really meaningful for us 350 00:13:19,590 --> 00:13:21,180 to work on this project. 351 00:13:21,180 --> 00:13:24,510 Christine - I love that you mentioned the career aspect also, 352 00:13:24,510 --> 00:13:26,580 because that is something that we were able 353 00:13:26,580 --> 00:13:29,727 to work into the video game. 354 00:13:29,727 --> 00:13:31,380 And should we call it a video game? 355 00:13:31,380 --> 00:13:33,420 Should we call it an immersive experience? 356 00:13:33,420 --> 00:13:35,280 What term... 357 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:36,210 Why don't you tell us a little bit 358 00:13:36,210 --> 00:13:40,143 about the interface of the game and how we refer to it? 359 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,220 Robert - Yeah, the experience that the students have developed, 360 00:13:44,220 --> 00:13:46,530 it has very game-like notions to it. 361 00:13:46,530 --> 00:13:47,940 It could be called a video game. 362 00:13:47,940 --> 00:13:51,540 It plays on desktop or it plays in virtual reality. 363 00:13:51,540 --> 00:13:53,940 It'll also play on mobile phones as well. 364 00:13:53,940 --> 00:13:56,640 So this experience that students engage with, 365 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:01,590 it leads them through what it's like to be a news anchor 366 00:14:01,590 --> 00:14:05,700 that's reporting on data that's coming into their news desk 367 00:14:05,700 --> 00:14:08,520 on a hurricane that's impending on the coast of Florida. 368 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,030 It takes them through being a weather science officer 369 00:14:12,030 --> 00:14:14,130 on a plane where they're dropping instruments 370 00:14:14,130 --> 00:14:16,860 into the hurricane and recording that data 371 00:14:16,860 --> 00:14:19,050 and figuring out what are the different parts 372 00:14:19,050 --> 00:14:21,810 of the hurricane and how do they understand the structure 373 00:14:21,810 --> 00:14:24,180 of this storm that's coming in. 374 00:14:24,180 --> 00:14:26,040 And it takes them through the career 375 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,980 of a rescue officer as well. 376 00:14:28,980 --> 00:14:30,180 Somebody who's out there, 377 00:14:30,180 --> 00:14:31,860 a first responder who's out there, 378 00:14:31,860 --> 00:14:33,960 trying to give guidance to people 379 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,380 who are in the aftermath of the storm as well, 380 00:14:37,380 --> 00:14:39,510 and providing rescue operations. 381 00:14:39,510 --> 00:14:41,970 So by putting students inside of the shoes 382 00:14:41,970 --> 00:14:44,490 of these sorts of careers, 383 00:14:44,490 --> 00:14:46,140 they're giving the students a sense 384 00:14:46,140 --> 00:14:47,880 that they themselves, the students, 385 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,340 could have these sorts of lives in front of them, 386 00:14:50,340 --> 00:14:51,930 not necessarily inside of those careers, 387 00:14:51,930 --> 00:14:54,600 but in similarly impactful roles in the future. 388 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,560 So that's always a really crisp, meaningful story for us 389 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,350 to tell inside of these immersive stories. 390 00:15:01,350 --> 00:15:02,190 Christine - Absolutely. 391 00:15:02,190 --> 00:15:03,030 Rachael - I wanna back up too, 392 00:15:03,030 --> 00:15:04,710 and talk just a little bit more about the process 393 00:15:04,710 --> 00:15:07,650 of how we landed on these career paths 394 00:15:07,650 --> 00:15:09,870 and these experiences for the students. 395 00:15:09,870 --> 00:15:13,050 Because we had a big debate at the beginning. 396 00:15:13,050 --> 00:15:16,710 We were talking more about a tornado experience. 397 00:15:16,710 --> 00:15:20,040 The reason we ultimately switched to a hurricane experience 398 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,617 is because there's so much real life rich data 399 00:15:23,617 --> 00:15:25,440 around hurricanes. 400 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:26,970 And one thing that I think is really cool 401 00:15:26,970 --> 00:15:27,930 about what we've built 402 00:15:27,930 --> 00:15:30,660 is that so much of it uses that real life data. 403 00:15:30,660 --> 00:15:32,790 So we have real life satellite imagery, 404 00:15:32,790 --> 00:15:36,120 real life radar from a hurricane hunter plane 405 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,240 that flew through the eye of a real life storm. 406 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,430 We have what's called a sounding 407 00:15:41,430 --> 00:15:43,230 that students in my course learn about, 408 00:15:43,230 --> 00:15:44,730 and they're reading that data. 409 00:15:45,690 --> 00:15:48,270 And then storm surge reports from after the storm hit, 410 00:15:48,270 --> 00:15:50,550 you know, really throughout the entire process, 411 00:15:50,550 --> 00:15:53,958 from forecasting to collecting data to the aftermath. 412 00:15:53,958 --> 00:15:56,708 (upbeat chiming) 413 00:15:58,283 --> 00:16:00,120 Mary - So Robert, we wanted to kind of pick your brain 414 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:02,460 because you're the SME when it comes to VR in my mind, 415 00:16:02,460 --> 00:16:03,293 and AR. 416 00:16:03,293 --> 00:16:04,126 Robert - Oh, well, thank you. 417 00:16:04,126 --> 00:16:04,980 Mary - Yeah. Well, it's true. 418 00:16:04,980 --> 00:16:07,050 And at ASU I think a lot of people see you that way. 419 00:16:07,050 --> 00:16:09,750 What is the difference between VR and AR, 420 00:16:09,750 --> 00:16:11,370 and are there any reasons 421 00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:14,460 that this is not an AR experience as well? 422 00:16:14,460 --> 00:16:16,590 Robert - So, virtual reality and augmented reality 423 00:16:16,590 --> 00:16:19,170 find themselves on what we call a spectrum. 424 00:16:19,170 --> 00:16:20,550 And in virtual reality, 425 00:16:20,550 --> 00:16:23,160 you're replacing everything that somebody sees, 426 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:24,930 everything that somebody hears, 427 00:16:24,930 --> 00:16:27,120 with a completely virtual environment. 428 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:28,260 And as they turn their head, 429 00:16:28,260 --> 00:16:30,600 they're moving their head in that virtual environment. 430 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:31,433 When they're walking, 431 00:16:31,433 --> 00:16:33,900 they're walking inside of that virtual environment as well. 432 00:16:33,900 --> 00:16:36,720 In augmented reality, or mixed reality, 433 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,510 you're actually superimposing virtual elements 434 00:16:39,510 --> 00:16:42,000 onto their physical world. 435 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,880 So they're still seeing the desk that's in front of them. 436 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:46,830 They're still seeing the floor, the real floor, 437 00:16:46,830 --> 00:16:48,510 they're still seeing the people in the room. 438 00:16:48,510 --> 00:16:51,450 But you also see different augmented objects 439 00:16:51,450 --> 00:16:53,850 from the virtual world in the space. 440 00:16:53,850 --> 00:16:54,840 And as you walk around, 441 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:56,700 you can see it from different perspectives. 442 00:16:56,700 --> 00:16:59,340 You can touch it and interact with it as well, 443 00:16:59,340 --> 00:17:01,890 but it's purely virtual that's blended and melded 444 00:17:01,890 --> 00:17:04,740 with the physical environment. 445 00:17:04,740 --> 00:17:07,140 Now, you asked about why we went 446 00:17:07,140 --> 00:17:09,540 with the virtual reality route for this case. 447 00:17:09,540 --> 00:17:13,140 When you wanna immerse somebody fully in a narrative, 448 00:17:13,140 --> 00:17:14,760 we think it makes sense to just completely 449 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:16,230 immerse them inside of it. 450 00:17:16,230 --> 00:17:18,720 So that does mean replacing their entire visual field, 451 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,030 their auditory field, their tactile field, 452 00:17:21,030 --> 00:17:24,420 with something that's a completely virtual experience, 453 00:17:24,420 --> 00:17:26,550 so we can compose the narrative. 454 00:17:26,550 --> 00:17:27,930 But we next wanna look at 455 00:17:27,930 --> 00:17:30,420 what could some augmented reality things be 456 00:17:30,420 --> 00:17:33,150 to teach students about things like cloud formation, 457 00:17:33,150 --> 00:17:35,220 things that are more spatial in nature, 458 00:17:35,220 --> 00:17:36,780 where they will wanna walk around it 459 00:17:36,780 --> 00:17:38,820 and see it from different perspectives, 460 00:17:38,820 --> 00:17:40,260 but see it inside of their space 461 00:17:40,260 --> 00:17:41,970 so they get a sense of scale, 462 00:17:41,970 --> 00:17:46,350 get a sense of place with these different objects. 463 00:17:46,350 --> 00:17:48,150 So Rachael is actually looking at that, 464 00:17:48,150 --> 00:17:49,860 thinking about that for the next generation 465 00:17:49,860 --> 00:17:51,270 of things as well. 466 00:17:51,270 --> 00:17:52,860 Mary - Yeah, so Rachael actually came out, 467 00:17:52,860 --> 00:17:54,210 we have a VR club at EdPlus, 468 00:17:54,210 --> 00:17:56,340 and she came out and showed us some of the, 469 00:17:56,340 --> 00:17:58,170 I think it was act three, 470 00:17:58,170 --> 00:18:00,300 but maybe some of act one as well. 471 00:18:00,300 --> 00:18:03,300 Oh, it was act two. I'm getting hand signals from Rachael. 472 00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:05,040 And it did look like there were like, 473 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,500 interactive components inside the VR. 474 00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:09,360 So kind of talk about that as like, 475 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:10,860 the meshing of the two. 476 00:18:10,860 --> 00:18:11,700 Robert - Yeah, absolutely. 477 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:13,860 Inside of virtual reality you can actually have 478 00:18:13,860 --> 00:18:15,990 some of these augmented elements as well 479 00:18:15,990 --> 00:18:18,180 where it does really feel like they're in the space. 480 00:18:18,180 --> 00:18:19,200 They're using their hands 481 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,240 or their controllers to really interact 482 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:22,830 with these elements as well. 483 00:18:22,830 --> 00:18:24,960 They're able to feel like they're able to jump through 484 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,240 different augmented views as well. 485 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:28,950 I think we have a few examples of that 486 00:18:28,950 --> 00:18:32,370 inside of some of our different acts as well. 487 00:18:32,370 --> 00:18:33,600 So it's a lot of fun to blend 488 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,120 the physical and virtual together in different ways. 489 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:36,953 Mary - So cool. 490 00:18:36,953 --> 00:18:38,280 Thanks for sharing your expertise. 491 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:39,862 Robert - Absolutely. My pleasure. 492 00:18:39,862 --> 00:18:41,910 (upbeat chiming) 493 00:18:41,910 --> 00:18:45,000 Christine - One thing I do wanna say about this immersive experience 494 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,050 is that, you know, 495 00:18:46,050 --> 00:18:51,050 we're really diving into something that doesn't exist yet. 496 00:18:51,451 --> 00:18:54,900 I'm always nervous about saying pioneering, 497 00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:59,640 but we don't know of another instructor-led 498 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,150 immersive experience that uses the resources, 499 00:19:03,150 --> 00:19:06,060 the cross-functional resources available at the university. 500 00:19:06,060 --> 00:19:07,560 Of course, we have Dreamscape, 501 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,580 the Dreamscape Learn project in the bio courses. 502 00:19:11,580 --> 00:19:14,580 That is a next level project 503 00:19:14,580 --> 00:19:17,880 that pulls from major, major resources, 504 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,090 and is a very high profile project at the university. 505 00:19:21,090 --> 00:19:22,500 What we're working on 506 00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:24,330 and what we're trying to establish 507 00:19:24,330 --> 00:19:28,200 is a set of best practices and processes 508 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,450 that instructors across the university 509 00:19:30,450 --> 00:19:32,970 could tap into to potentially develop 510 00:19:32,970 --> 00:19:36,060 these type of experiences for their own courses. 511 00:19:36,060 --> 00:19:38,670 And I mean, that's just something that is really unique 512 00:19:38,670 --> 00:19:41,760 and we're so thankful to Rachael and to Robert 513 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:46,020 and his team to help, you know, support this project. 514 00:19:46,020 --> 00:19:48,540 And everyone dove, you know, head... 515 00:19:48,540 --> 00:19:50,340 What's the word, head in? Headfirst? 516 00:19:50,340 --> 00:19:54,300 Everyone dove headfirst into the opportunity 517 00:19:54,300 --> 00:19:58,560 and we laugh and say it was the perfect storm of opportunity 518 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:02,310 to really pull from and highlight all of the resources 519 00:20:02,310 --> 00:20:04,470 that are available at ASU. 520 00:20:04,470 --> 00:20:05,633 Robert - Yeah, it really was a perfect storm. 521 00:20:05,633 --> 00:20:07,800 I mean, we have these students 522 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,950 who really wanna learn about how to develop 523 00:20:10,950 --> 00:20:13,650 as creative producers in their own right. 524 00:20:13,650 --> 00:20:16,530 They're designers, game designers, game developers. 525 00:20:16,530 --> 00:20:18,960 They're 3D artists, they're programmers, 526 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:20,490 they're storytellers. 527 00:20:20,490 --> 00:20:22,470 They wanna see these experiences come together 528 00:20:22,470 --> 00:20:24,210 and they wanna see themselves 529 00:20:24,210 --> 00:20:27,060 inside of those careers developing these experiences, 530 00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:28,770 which is exactly why we're so hungry 531 00:20:28,770 --> 00:20:30,930 for the right stories to tell, 532 00:20:30,930 --> 00:20:33,180 to put these students in those situations 533 00:20:33,180 --> 00:20:35,880 where they are developing for a real client 534 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:37,740 with real objectives. 535 00:20:37,740 --> 00:20:40,860 And there's real impactful, meaningful outcome as well, 536 00:20:40,860 --> 00:20:43,200 including measurable outcome as well 537 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,150 of sampling from the students and saying, 538 00:20:45,150 --> 00:20:48,300 hey, what are you learning through this experience? 539 00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:49,830 Christine - And that's a really important detail 540 00:20:49,830 --> 00:20:52,980 that the folks working on developing this project 541 00:20:52,980 --> 00:20:56,880 outside of the stakeholders and advisors are students. 542 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,130 It's a team of student workers 543 00:20:59,130 --> 00:21:02,010 who are getting their undergrad and master's degrees 544 00:21:02,010 --> 00:21:06,210 in various types of media arts, computer sciences. 545 00:21:06,210 --> 00:21:09,810 And I have to say, I was incredibly impressed with the team 546 00:21:09,810 --> 00:21:11,700 that was put together to work 547 00:21:11,700 --> 00:21:15,300 with such young, creative, hungry students 548 00:21:15,300 --> 00:21:18,003 that were willing to work on something 549 00:21:18,003 --> 00:21:19,320 that we weren't really sure 550 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,120 what we were working on at the beginning. 551 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,130 You know, we had this big team building party 552 00:21:23,130 --> 00:21:26,130 at the Science Center just to brainstorm. 553 00:21:26,130 --> 00:21:27,840 And wow, like, 554 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,730 what an impressive group of young people 555 00:21:29,730 --> 00:21:31,440 who are going to do great things. 556 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,330 Rachael - Austin Porter was our project manager, 557 00:21:33,330 --> 00:21:35,430 just graduated with his master's degree. 558 00:21:35,430 --> 00:21:37,890 So we had a mix of masters and undergraduate students. 559 00:21:37,890 --> 00:21:40,080 But I mean, he took the lead on making this happen 560 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,330 because it had been kind of in the works 561 00:21:42,330 --> 00:21:44,100 as a conversation for a while. 562 00:21:44,100 --> 00:21:46,170 And he was like, I wanna take the lead on this. 563 00:21:46,170 --> 00:21:49,590 And he was amazing, just super knowledgeable, 564 00:21:49,590 --> 00:21:52,920 dedicated to the work, receptive to all kinds of feedback, 565 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,840 and just wanted to make it the best it could be. 566 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,420 Alex Vong has been involved in the project 567 00:21:57,420 --> 00:21:59,880 as an undergraduate who, 568 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:02,160 you could have told me he was a PhD student 569 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:03,090 and I would've believed it. 570 00:22:03,090 --> 00:22:04,110 Christine - Absolutely. 571 00:22:04,110 --> 00:22:06,480 Robert - And his degree is in Media Arts and Sciences, 572 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:07,710 which is hosted by 573 00:22:07,710 --> 00:22:09,360 the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, 574 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:11,400 where we teach students these integral skills 575 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,110 of how to work with others, 576 00:22:13,110 --> 00:22:14,550 artists working with technologists, 577 00:22:14,550 --> 00:22:15,960 working with computer scientists, 578 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,620 to pull these experiences together in really meaningful ways 579 00:22:19,620 --> 00:22:22,891 with a technofluency as a critical component. 580 00:22:22,891 --> 00:22:25,641 (upbeat chiming) 581 00:22:26,700 --> 00:22:28,710 Mary - Technofluency? What even is that? 582 00:22:28,710 --> 00:22:29,670 Ricardo - What's that, Liz? 583 00:22:29,670 --> 00:22:31,560 Elizabeth - Well, good thing I looked it up 584 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:32,790 because also I wouldn't know otherwise. 585 00:22:32,790 --> 00:22:35,100 And this is another one of ASU's really innovative things. 586 00:22:35,100 --> 00:22:37,620 It's a new term that we have coined, 587 00:22:37,620 --> 00:22:39,660 keyword technofluency. 588 00:22:39,660 --> 00:22:42,060 So they say that it's three things, 589 00:22:42,060 --> 00:22:44,550 fluency with technology, application development, 590 00:22:44,550 --> 00:22:46,230 and implications, 591 00:22:46,230 --> 00:22:48,810 which it sounds like that's the coming together 592 00:22:48,810 --> 00:22:53,810 of multiple disciplines to create a fluid experience. 593 00:22:53,940 --> 00:22:56,074 Ricardo - Implications. 594 00:22:56,074 --> 00:22:58,590 Elizabeth - I have to have Robert come back and tell us more about it. 595 00:22:58,590 --> 00:23:01,470 Ricardo - What was the thing? Didn't Andrew talk about that, too? 596 00:23:01,470 --> 00:23:03,810 This idea that we're... 597 00:23:03,810 --> 00:23:04,910 Oh, what is it? Michael Crow has the thing- 598 00:23:04,910 --> 00:23:08,189 Mary - The digital fluency was what I think Andrew talked about. 599 00:23:08,189 --> 00:23:11,340 Ricardo - But it's more like a moral... 600 00:23:11,340 --> 00:23:13,230 Mary - Obligation to make sure that we're fluent 601 00:23:13,230 --> 00:23:15,000 in digital spaces? Ricardo - But there's a specific term 602 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,830 that Crow's got that it's like- 603 00:23:16,830 --> 00:23:18,300 Elizabeth - He works for us so we should just call him up. 604 00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:19,133 He's on the team. 605 00:23:19,133 --> 00:23:20,730 Mary - He is on the team. He's on the production team. 606 00:23:20,730 --> 00:23:22,710 Elizabeth - Yeah. We should just Slack him real quick. 607 00:23:22,710 --> 00:23:24,600 Be like Michael, what is that word you like to use? 608 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:25,830 We're on a first name basis now. 609 00:23:25,830 --> 00:23:27,210 Mary - I totally get it. Me and Mikey are too. 610 00:23:27,210 --> 00:23:29,070 Ricardo - There's one that's getting thrown around right now 611 00:23:29,070 --> 00:23:30,630 that it's like... 612 00:23:30,630 --> 00:23:31,980 But it's very specific about 613 00:23:31,980 --> 00:23:33,690 the implications of using these technologies. 614 00:23:33,690 --> 00:23:35,610 Mary - Principled innovation. Ricardo - Principled innovation! 615 00:23:35,610 --> 00:23:36,443 Ricardo - There you go. 616 00:23:36,443 --> 00:23:40,050 It's always what's coming up. Principled innovation. 617 00:23:40,050 --> 00:23:41,790 You can't just make it to make it, 618 00:23:41,790 --> 00:23:43,740 you shouldn't just implement it to implement it. 619 00:23:43,740 --> 00:23:45,480 It needs to be intentional, 620 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:46,470 it needs to be thoughtful 621 00:23:46,470 --> 00:23:48,480 towards its societal impact. 622 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:49,320 All the things. 623 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,080 Elizabeth - Yeah. And that's exactly what this course does. 624 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,690 There was a couple things that we talked about here 625 00:23:54,690 --> 00:23:57,360 where they talk about their learning objectives 626 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:00,540 being at the literal top of their page 627 00:24:00,540 --> 00:24:02,580 for everything that they were doing. 628 00:24:02,580 --> 00:24:04,050 Which one, makes me think about, 629 00:24:04,050 --> 00:24:05,550 you know me, I'm gonna talk about alignment. 630 00:24:05,550 --> 00:24:07,563 It's my favorite thing. 631 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,510 So they talked about how that aligned the project, 632 00:24:12,510 --> 00:24:15,780 the course, how it brought people aligned on the project, 633 00:24:15,780 --> 00:24:17,010 like creating the project, 634 00:24:17,010 --> 00:24:18,930 and getting people kind of on the same pages, 635 00:24:18,930 --> 00:24:20,790 that they kind of had this north star. 636 00:24:20,790 --> 00:24:23,340 But beyond that, with that intentionality too, 637 00:24:23,340 --> 00:24:27,120 that they are not just putting this really cool experience 638 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,220 and for the sake of having a really cool experience, 639 00:24:29,220 --> 00:24:32,250 it is actually filling a very targeted and specific gap 640 00:24:32,250 --> 00:24:33,690 and need in the course. 641 00:24:33,690 --> 00:24:35,370 So they've mentioned, well, 642 00:24:35,370 --> 00:24:38,040 it'd be cool to have this VR experience in everything. 643 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,020 It might not be right for every class. 644 00:24:40,020 --> 00:24:43,380 So you have to think about the implications 645 00:24:43,380 --> 00:24:44,430 of what that's gonna do. 646 00:24:44,430 --> 00:24:46,890 That principled innovation of being intentional 647 00:24:46,890 --> 00:24:49,020 with how we're using the technology 648 00:24:49,020 --> 00:24:50,520 and our time and resources. 649 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,590 Mary - Absolutely because even though VR is cool, 650 00:24:52,590 --> 00:24:55,560 it actually doesn't meet everyone's learning needs, right? 651 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,150 So we have people who really just 652 00:24:57,150 --> 00:24:59,610 can't be in VR environments for a number of reasons. 653 00:24:59,610 --> 00:25:01,290 Ricardo - Oh, sure. Accessibility issues, yeah. 654 00:25:01,290 --> 00:25:02,190 Mary - Absolutely. 655 00:25:02,190 --> 00:25:04,470 And so, I mean, access to a headset. 656 00:25:04,470 --> 00:25:05,730 There's so many things, right, 657 00:25:05,730 --> 00:25:08,850 that could impact a person's ability 658 00:25:08,850 --> 00:25:11,340 to interact in that space in the same way 659 00:25:11,340 --> 00:25:12,600 as the person right next to them, 660 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,280 but they're being very intentional about it, right? 661 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,890 You can still do it on the web browser. 662 00:25:16,890 --> 00:25:18,690 So that takes away the need 663 00:25:18,690 --> 00:25:21,690 to worry about if you have access to the technology 664 00:25:21,690 --> 00:25:24,240 or if you get vertigo when you go into a headset. 665 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:25,803 So they're being very intentional. 666 00:25:25,803 --> 00:25:28,140 (upbeat chiming) 667 00:25:28,140 --> 00:25:32,400 Robert - So Alex is an embodiment of that program, certainly. 668 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,280 Christine - He is, from a professional development standpoint, 669 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:37,530 his work in this type of project 670 00:25:37,530 --> 00:25:41,580 is a wonderful example of how a student can grow 671 00:25:41,580 --> 00:25:42,810 and build their skills, 672 00:25:42,810 --> 00:25:45,780 not just from a technological or professional standpoint, 673 00:25:45,780 --> 00:25:48,420 but his team building efforts, 674 00:25:48,420 --> 00:25:51,570 the way that he presented in the meetings. 675 00:25:51,570 --> 00:25:53,460 I mean, just to see someone 676 00:25:53,460 --> 00:25:56,370 who is just starting out their career 677 00:25:56,370 --> 00:25:59,250 handle himself in such a professional way 678 00:25:59,250 --> 00:26:03,090 was what we want from these types of projects 679 00:26:03,090 --> 00:26:05,280 and these types of opportunities for students. 680 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:06,870 He's a wonderful example of the growth 681 00:26:06,870 --> 00:26:08,850 that can happen when they're given that opportunity. 682 00:26:08,850 --> 00:26:10,230 Rachael - And then I wanna shout out 683 00:26:10,230 --> 00:26:12,690 to Jesse Torres and Krupa Kapadia 684 00:26:12,690 --> 00:26:16,050 who have been two of our artistic directors. 685 00:26:16,050 --> 00:26:19,320 And they, you know, can I say work their butts off? 686 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:20,700 They work their butts off. 687 00:26:20,700 --> 00:26:22,560 And are really talented artists. 688 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,500 And Krupa right now helping us to set a standard 689 00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:27,720 on adding a lot of depth to the visuals 690 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,420 and really making this look as polished as it can be. 691 00:26:30,420 --> 00:26:31,980 Robert - These experiences, it's pretty incredible, 692 00:26:31,980 --> 00:26:34,230 because you need that cross-functional team. 693 00:26:34,230 --> 00:26:35,820 And that's some of the biggest challenges, 694 00:26:35,820 --> 00:26:39,240 is you need artists to be able to work with developers. 695 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,910 You need to have a script where people respect the script 696 00:26:41,910 --> 00:26:45,690 and are able to understand and find alignment 697 00:26:45,690 --> 00:26:47,670 in how all this stuff comes together 698 00:26:47,670 --> 00:26:49,440 and project managers to pull it all together. 699 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,610 So it's a real credit to the students, 700 00:26:51,610 --> 00:26:53,490 but also kind of their structure 701 00:26:53,490 --> 00:26:55,398 and their way of working 702 00:26:55,398 --> 00:26:57,420 to pull these things together efficiently. 703 00:26:57,420 --> 00:27:00,660 Rachael - Can I talk a little bit more about the script process? 704 00:27:00,660 --> 00:27:02,250 Because that was, 705 00:27:02,250 --> 00:27:04,170 everyone at this table has been involved 706 00:27:04,170 --> 00:27:07,200 in the script writing process to at least some degree, 707 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,560 and that in its own was a really big lift 708 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,797 and something that I'm hoping through our experience 709 00:27:13,797 --> 00:27:16,200 and my research and writing moving forward, 710 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:20,130 we can help provide a framework for future experiences 711 00:27:20,130 --> 00:27:21,750 to go through this a little more smoothly. 712 00:27:21,750 --> 00:27:23,610 Writing an educational script 713 00:27:23,610 --> 00:27:26,790 for a virtual reality narrative experience 714 00:27:26,790 --> 00:27:29,010 has so many layers. 715 00:27:29,010 --> 00:27:32,430 And so I started as the content expert 716 00:27:32,430 --> 00:27:33,930 and the instructor for the course. 717 00:27:33,930 --> 00:27:36,840 I'm now project manager since Austin has graduated. 718 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,020 Christine, instructional designer, lead for the project. 719 00:27:40,020 --> 00:27:41,790 And the script, Ricardo, 720 00:27:41,790 --> 00:27:43,470 who you guys may not hear when you're listening, 721 00:27:43,470 --> 00:27:44,580 but he's standing here with us. 722 00:27:44,580 --> 00:27:46,770 He's helped with some of the script writing as well. 723 00:27:46,770 --> 00:27:48,540 And in all of the script writing meetings, 724 00:27:48,540 --> 00:27:50,160 we've also needed someone 725 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,230 with a technical background involved 726 00:27:52,230 --> 00:27:56,250 so that we can make sure we're providing the proper cues 727 00:27:56,250 --> 00:27:58,410 for the interactions that we want 728 00:27:58,410 --> 00:28:00,270 to go along with the dialogue. 729 00:28:00,270 --> 00:28:03,330 And that what we're asking for is possible to create. 730 00:28:03,330 --> 00:28:06,690 And sometimes that involves a conversation with the artists. 731 00:28:06,690 --> 00:28:10,320 And then you have to have a storyline that's interesting, 732 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:14,130 that provides drama and conflict and resolution. 733 00:28:14,130 --> 00:28:16,890 So, you know, that was a learning process for me, 734 00:28:16,890 --> 00:28:18,690 because I haven't done creative writing in years. 735 00:28:18,690 --> 00:28:20,010 And this is creative writing, 736 00:28:20,010 --> 00:28:22,740 but with a very, very particular goal and twist. 737 00:28:22,740 --> 00:28:23,970 And then, you know, Christine, 738 00:28:23,970 --> 00:28:26,850 you were always tying us back to the learning objectives, 739 00:28:26,850 --> 00:28:29,280 which was a good reminder on my shoulder of like, okay, 740 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,050 how does this connect to what we want the students 741 00:28:31,050 --> 00:28:32,697 to get out of the course and out of the experience? 742 00:28:32,697 --> 00:28:34,920 Robert - And we very much derived our process 743 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:37,950 and were inspired by the process of Dreamscape Immersive 744 00:28:37,950 --> 00:28:39,300 and Dreamscape Learn, actually. 745 00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:40,980 And Walter Parkes this, you know, 746 00:28:40,980 --> 00:28:43,440 legendary Hollywood producer 747 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:44,970 and his process of script writing. 748 00:28:44,970 --> 00:28:47,280 So we were really taking cues from them. 749 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,070 A lot of our structure and how we even structure our scripts 750 00:28:50,070 --> 00:28:52,020 look very similar to the way Dreamscape Immersive 751 00:28:52,020 --> 00:28:53,280 runs theirs as well. 752 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,560 So a big inspiration from how it's done 753 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:56,790 by professionals as well. 754 00:28:56,790 --> 00:28:58,560 Another thing for the students to learn from. 755 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:00,390 Christine - We tried to take a lot of lessons learned 756 00:29:00,390 --> 00:29:03,060 from other attempts at immersive elements 757 00:29:03,060 --> 00:29:05,400 for courses and from Dreamscape. 758 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,207 What were some of the challenges that we ran into 759 00:29:08,207 --> 00:29:10,170 and tried to overcome along the way? 760 00:29:10,170 --> 00:29:12,390 Because we had to be very forgiving to ourselves. 761 00:29:12,390 --> 00:29:14,190 We had to be very gentle with ourselves 762 00:29:14,190 --> 00:29:16,710 because it is a process and it is a learning experience. 763 00:29:16,710 --> 00:29:18,870 And we ran into a lot of challenges. 764 00:29:18,870 --> 00:29:20,670 Robert - I think something that's just unavoidable 765 00:29:20,670 --> 00:29:23,010 with these sorts of immersive experiences, 766 00:29:23,010 --> 00:29:24,210 when you're making a game, 767 00:29:24,210 --> 00:29:26,430 when you're making a VR experience, 768 00:29:26,430 --> 00:29:28,410 you can script it, you can storyboard it, 769 00:29:28,410 --> 00:29:30,030 you can imagine what it's gonna be like, 770 00:29:30,030 --> 00:29:33,090 but you won't really know until it comes together. 771 00:29:33,090 --> 00:29:36,060 And so there ends up being a lot on the cutting room floor 772 00:29:36,060 --> 00:29:38,190 where we thought an idea was really great 773 00:29:38,190 --> 00:29:40,560 when we scripted it, it read a lot better, 774 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,900 but once it manifested together, 775 00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:44,700 it fell a little bit flat, you know, 776 00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:46,890 it didn't feel as fun or interactive. 777 00:29:46,890 --> 00:29:49,913 And so we're actually collecting a lot of feedback right now 778 00:29:49,913 --> 00:29:52,860 to help us guide where should we be focusing 779 00:29:52,860 --> 00:29:56,610 more of our effort on fun, gamified meaningful aspects 780 00:29:56,610 --> 00:29:59,760 and where should we be dialing things down a little bit. 781 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,190 Rachael - I think another challenge was, 782 00:30:02,190 --> 00:30:04,350 I think you phrased it this way at some point, Christine, 783 00:30:04,350 --> 00:30:05,250 or maybe it was you, Robert, 784 00:30:05,250 --> 00:30:06,540 but these aren't my words, 785 00:30:06,540 --> 00:30:09,150 but getting everyone to speak the same language 786 00:30:09,150 --> 00:30:11,940 because we're working with such a varied team 787 00:30:11,940 --> 00:30:13,740 and people are coming with their own expertise 788 00:30:13,740 --> 00:30:15,390 that's so valuable to the project, 789 00:30:15,390 --> 00:30:18,120 but that means we have different goals and visions in mind. 790 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:20,610 So just getting all on the same page and, you know, 791 00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:22,260 at this point we've been working together long enough 792 00:30:22,260 --> 00:30:24,660 that I think that just kind of happened naturally. 793 00:30:24,660 --> 00:30:27,540 But that was one of the challenges early on. 794 00:30:27,540 --> 00:30:30,307 And then your reminder, speaking of learning from, 795 00:30:30,307 --> 00:30:34,500 you know, other projects and past experiences, 796 00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:36,240 a reminder to keep the learning objectives 797 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:37,320 in mind from the beginning. 798 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,320 Because if you don't have them there from the start, 799 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,080 it's really hard to add them back in afterwards. 800 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,930 So the first experience that we tested 801 00:30:45,930 --> 00:30:47,820 with students was our second act. 802 00:30:47,820 --> 00:30:49,500 We kind of, just within the team, 803 00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:50,820 call things act one, two, and three. 804 00:30:50,820 --> 00:30:53,310 So act two is flying into the eye of a hurricane 805 00:30:53,310 --> 00:30:54,360 and collecting data. 806 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,154 And so in the the second act, 807 00:30:57,154 --> 00:31:00,390 the questions are a little bit simpler 808 00:31:00,390 --> 00:31:03,510 because we weren't sure how students were gonna react to it. 809 00:31:03,510 --> 00:31:05,760 And what we found when we got feedback, 810 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,500 we had one very honest student 811 00:31:07,500 --> 00:31:09,910 in the first round of feedback who was like, look, 812 00:31:09,910 --> 00:31:13,080 if I just wanted an easy A, yeah, this is great. 813 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:14,700 But if I wanna challenge my thinking 814 00:31:14,700 --> 00:31:16,740 and learn more from the experience, 815 00:31:16,740 --> 00:31:19,350 maybe one of these questions did that. 816 00:31:19,350 --> 00:31:21,150 But most of them were too easy. 817 00:31:21,150 --> 00:31:22,680 There was only one student who admitted that, 818 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,450 and most were just like, yeah, this is great. 819 00:31:24,450 --> 00:31:27,420 But that was something we really took into consideration 820 00:31:27,420 --> 00:31:30,360 when we went on to develop act three, 821 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,960 which is our emergency support rescue crew experience. 822 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,320 And we started to include Bloom's taxonomy 823 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,620 and the higher levels of thinking and critical thinking 824 00:31:40,620 --> 00:31:42,600 into the questions that we built. 825 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,690 Because to go back and rework a question 826 00:31:45,690 --> 00:31:47,070 after it's been built, 827 00:31:47,070 --> 00:31:48,540 I mean the interface is there. 828 00:31:48,540 --> 00:31:49,855 And so it really- 829 00:31:49,855 --> 00:31:50,688 Christine - Talk about a lesson learned. 830 00:31:50,688 --> 00:31:52,950 I mean just to change a question 831 00:31:52,950 --> 00:31:57,270 involved graphic technological components. 832 00:31:57,270 --> 00:31:59,310 I mean, rewriting the script creatively, 833 00:31:59,310 --> 00:32:02,100 like what happens before and what happens after, 834 00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:06,000 it's not easy to just go back and change a question. 835 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,590 So that was a big lesson. 836 00:32:07,590 --> 00:32:09,570 Rachael - Yeah, and that the questions, 837 00:32:09,570 --> 00:32:12,990 to an extent drive the narrative. 838 00:32:12,990 --> 00:32:15,000 So we actually then, by the end of this, 839 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,250 we started the entire script writing process 840 00:32:17,250 --> 00:32:18,780 by writing the questions first. 841 00:32:18,780 --> 00:32:21,390 And also considering what questions drive drama 842 00:32:21,390 --> 00:32:25,260 and can lead to a really exciting narrative. 843 00:32:25,260 --> 00:32:26,550 Christine - And not just the questions first, 844 00:32:26,550 --> 00:32:28,140 but we went back and we started putting 845 00:32:28,140 --> 00:32:30,300 the learning objectives at the top of every page, 846 00:32:30,300 --> 00:32:32,250 or at the top of every script, 847 00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:33,900 so that everyone, 848 00:32:33,900 --> 00:32:37,560 whether they were designing the graphic element 849 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,920 or the sound, or the question that was asked, 850 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:42,660 they had a reference point, 851 00:32:42,660 --> 00:32:44,010 which was the learning objective. 852 00:32:44,010 --> 00:32:47,100 And the entire experience is focused 853 00:32:47,100 --> 00:32:48,630 on these particular outcomes 854 00:32:48,630 --> 00:32:51,030 that we wanted the students to leave with. 855 00:32:51,030 --> 00:32:53,910 And in order for that to happen from top to bottom 856 00:32:53,910 --> 00:32:56,760 and completely within the design, 857 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,920 everyone had to know what those were, 858 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,580 be invested in what the learning objectives were aiming for, 859 00:33:02,580 --> 00:33:05,760 and just simply being reminded of them all of the time. 860 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:09,390 So something as simple as just putting them in our documents 861 00:33:09,390 --> 00:33:12,840 for reference really helped guide that process. 862 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,273 And for anyone listening looking for a takeaway, 863 00:33:15,273 --> 00:33:16,944 just like you would put your goals 864 00:33:16,944 --> 00:33:19,080 on a sticky note on your bathroom mirror, 865 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:20,070 put your learning objectives 866 00:33:20,070 --> 00:33:22,112 at the top of your project documents 867 00:33:22,112 --> 00:33:24,240 and that will really make a difference. 868 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:26,010 Robert - Yeah we also, inside of our template, 869 00:33:26,010 --> 00:33:28,200 had central tensions written out, 870 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,030 critical plot points, taglines, 871 00:33:30,030 --> 00:33:33,750 bylines about what the experience was just to remind us. 872 00:33:33,750 --> 00:33:35,414 And you know, I tell people, 873 00:33:35,414 --> 00:33:38,070 the hardest part about pulling these experiences together, 874 00:33:38,070 --> 00:33:40,410 it's not the art, it's not the code, 875 00:33:40,410 --> 00:33:41,520 it's not even the narrative. 876 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,790 It's actually alignment, finding alignment within your team, 877 00:33:44,790 --> 00:33:46,410 because you've got all these different people 878 00:33:46,410 --> 00:33:47,243 working on something. 879 00:33:47,243 --> 00:33:48,900 How do you build that alignment 880 00:33:48,900 --> 00:33:51,090 so that you have a really polished product 881 00:33:51,090 --> 00:33:53,640 that comes together and actually fits together? 882 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:55,800 So the simplest that you can boil things down 883 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,660 and bring everybody onto the same page, 884 00:33:57,660 --> 00:33:59,220 as simply as possible, 885 00:33:59,220 --> 00:34:01,230 that's what we've found to be very effective. 886 00:34:01,230 --> 00:34:02,160 Christine - Good point. 887 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,850 Because it took everyone being in the same meetings 888 00:34:05,850 --> 00:34:09,450 or in the same room to really help make that happen. 889 00:34:09,450 --> 00:34:11,490 And I think that was one of the biggest lessons 890 00:34:11,490 --> 00:34:14,490 I've learned from working on other immersive projects 891 00:34:14,490 --> 00:34:19,170 is that it is critical that the subject matter expert, 892 00:34:19,170 --> 00:34:22,680 the project managers, the technological developers, 893 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:26,310 and the instructional designers be present in the meetings. 894 00:34:26,310 --> 00:34:29,760 It's very hard to work through some of these components 895 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,580 when one of those elements is missing. 896 00:34:32,580 --> 00:34:34,530 It unfortunately provides opportunities 897 00:34:34,530 --> 00:34:36,960 that you would have to potentially backtrack. 898 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:38,370 And so that was something 899 00:34:38,370 --> 00:34:41,040 that we really set a goal as from the beginning 900 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:45,300 was that everyone would be present as much as possible 901 00:34:45,300 --> 00:34:47,820 so that the design elements were not missing, 902 00:34:47,820 --> 00:34:49,950 there was something wrong with the subject matter, 903 00:34:49,950 --> 00:34:51,600 or as we mentioned before, 904 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:54,300 a technological component couldn't be executed 905 00:34:54,300 --> 00:34:56,280 because the people in the creative meetings, 906 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:57,870 you know, thought it could be. 907 00:34:57,870 --> 00:35:00,900 It was so important that everyone was present 908 00:35:00,900 --> 00:35:02,460 and invested in the same goals. 909 00:35:02,460 --> 00:35:04,320 And I know, from my perspective, 910 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:06,900 that's something that I will push going forward 911 00:35:06,900 --> 00:35:09,720 for more of these immersive types of experiences. 912 00:35:09,720 --> 00:35:11,670 Robert - Yeah, I was happy to see us manage that 913 00:35:11,670 --> 00:35:13,200 inside of our culture, actually. 914 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,750 It seemed to work well with our team. 915 00:35:15,750 --> 00:35:17,910 It is important, the subject matter expertise, 916 00:35:17,910 --> 00:35:20,070 for something as serious as hurricanes 917 00:35:20,070 --> 00:35:22,530 to do things with the right balance of reality. 918 00:35:22,530 --> 00:35:25,290 Obviously it can't be completely photorealistic 919 00:35:25,290 --> 00:35:28,410 for the limitations of working within a game engine, 920 00:35:28,410 --> 00:35:30,660 but having real subject matter expertise 921 00:35:30,660 --> 00:35:32,340 on the project was really helpful. 922 00:35:32,340 --> 00:35:35,190 And luckily we have Rachael Kaye with us here, 923 00:35:35,190 --> 00:35:39,660 a two-time Emmy award winning meteorologist on our team 924 00:35:39,660 --> 00:35:41,100 as a project manager. Rachael - Thanks Robert. 925 00:35:41,100 --> 00:35:43,440 Robert - And a real career meteorologist can tell 926 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:45,300 what it's really like in the newsroom, 927 00:35:45,300 --> 00:35:47,790 really tell what it's like to be getting real data 928 00:35:47,790 --> 00:35:50,790 and how the rescue teams also operate 929 00:35:50,790 --> 00:35:52,170 because she reports on it. 930 00:35:52,170 --> 00:35:54,240 Rachael - We do also, just along the lines of, 931 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:55,620 you mentioned photorealism, 932 00:35:55,620 --> 00:35:58,710 within I think in at least one point in each act, 933 00:35:58,710 --> 00:35:59,730 but using act two, 934 00:35:59,730 --> 00:36:02,610 our flight into the hurricane as an example, 935 00:36:02,610 --> 00:36:06,390 I was able to find real life video 936 00:36:06,390 --> 00:36:09,720 of flying into the hurricane we based this experience on. 937 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:11,640 So just to provide a nice visual, 938 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:15,330 the student's at a technical desk within a plane, 939 00:36:15,330 --> 00:36:18,090 and you look out the plane window and you can see the storm. 940 00:36:18,090 --> 00:36:19,920 And one of the options that you can click 941 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:21,960 to look at on your computer monitor 942 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:25,140 is the live feed from the captain's perspective. 943 00:36:25,140 --> 00:36:27,030 And so if the student clicks that, 944 00:36:27,030 --> 00:36:31,200 they're gonna see real life video on their virtual computer, 945 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,530 what the view out of a real life plane 946 00:36:34,530 --> 00:36:36,150 flying into this hurricane is, 947 00:36:36,150 --> 00:36:40,320 and that video matches what they're seeing out the window, 948 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:41,490 a virtual version of it. 949 00:36:41,490 --> 00:36:43,650 So that was a correlation 950 00:36:43,650 --> 00:36:47,040 I was very happy we were able to get to work in the end. 951 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,488 Robert - Yeah, we do like blending the virtual and the physical 952 00:36:49,488 --> 00:36:50,321 and I think that was one of the aspects 953 00:36:50,321 --> 00:36:52,980 that the students give us a lot of positive feedback on 954 00:36:52,980 --> 00:36:54,510 and wanted to see more of, 955 00:36:54,510 --> 00:36:56,730 if I remember correctly, on an early version. 956 00:36:56,730 --> 00:36:57,563 Rachael - Yeah. 957 00:36:57,563 --> 00:36:59,430 Christine - Rachael, why don't you tell us a little bit 958 00:36:59,430 --> 00:37:04,320 about the storyline of the experience and the different acts 959 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,140 and how they relate to the actual learning objectives 960 00:37:07,140 --> 00:37:09,180 that we were trying to reach? 961 00:37:09,180 --> 00:37:11,340 Rachael - Yeah, so let me start with like, 962 00:37:11,340 --> 00:37:13,260 the big picture description of the project 963 00:37:13,260 --> 00:37:17,430 because it is a three act experience 964 00:37:17,430 --> 00:37:20,880 that takes students through three different careers. 965 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,820 Each of those careers is also a different timeline 966 00:37:23,820 --> 00:37:27,090 in the hurricane development and forecasting process. 967 00:37:27,090 --> 00:37:30,150 So act one is two days before a hurricane makes landfall 968 00:37:30,150 --> 00:37:31,320 on the coast of Florida, 969 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:33,870 and they're in the role of a broadcast meteorologist, 970 00:37:33,870 --> 00:37:35,640 which is my area of expertise. 971 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:39,270 So I kind of helped to create the vision 972 00:37:39,270 --> 00:37:41,550 and the characters that would be involved in act one 973 00:37:41,550 --> 00:37:43,890 and the student is what we ultimately landed on 974 00:37:43,890 --> 00:37:45,420 in the role of a weather producer. 975 00:37:45,420 --> 00:37:49,290 So they're helping their chief get the graphics ready 976 00:37:49,290 --> 00:37:53,160 to tell the public two days before a storm hits 977 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,800 what they can expect, how serious it's gonna be, 978 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:57,930 what they need to do to prepare to be safe. 979 00:37:57,930 --> 00:37:59,940 And while they're working with their chief 980 00:37:59,940 --> 00:38:00,990 to get the graphics ready, 981 00:38:00,990 --> 00:38:03,270 they get a phone call from grandma, 982 00:38:03,270 --> 00:38:07,350 and grandma is just very confused and very resistant 983 00:38:07,350 --> 00:38:09,000 and doesn't wanna evacuate. 984 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,250 And you know, really, that's just what they say. 985 00:38:11,250 --> 00:38:13,200 How bad is it really gonna be? 986 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:16,350 And so the student is in this role kind of in conflict 987 00:38:16,350 --> 00:38:17,970 between getting their job done 988 00:38:17,970 --> 00:38:19,350 and helping their family member, 989 00:38:19,350 --> 00:38:20,910 both of which are very important. 990 00:38:20,910 --> 00:38:24,210 And also, to be honest, like, very realistic. 991 00:38:24,210 --> 00:38:25,740 As a meteorologist it's like, oh, 992 00:38:25,740 --> 00:38:27,810 I have a weather hit is what we call them. 993 00:38:27,810 --> 00:38:29,040 I have a weather hit coming up in a minute, 994 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,560 but my sister wants to know how bad this storm's gonna be, 995 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:33,480 so what do I do? 996 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,400 It took a few iterations to get the grandma right, 997 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,530 but I think she's great, she's fantastic. 998 00:38:37,530 --> 00:38:40,410 Christine - It's also a good example of where the students 999 00:38:40,410 --> 00:38:44,220 were able to inject some of their personal creativity 1000 00:38:44,220 --> 00:38:49,220 to the storyline and let them stretch their legs creatively. 1001 00:38:49,290 --> 00:38:51,060 Rachael - I have to give McKenzie Likeman a shout out 1002 00:38:51,060 --> 00:38:53,833 because the grandma was really her baby. 1003 00:38:53,833 --> 00:38:55,680 She brought the grandma to life, 1004 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:57,720 and the grandma was her baby. 1005 00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:00,270 But she brought the grandma to life with a lot of character. 1006 00:39:00,270 --> 00:39:01,980 And I don't know if you guys have heard 1007 00:39:01,980 --> 00:39:04,560 of the Waffle House Index, but it's unofficial. 1008 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:05,910 And so I don't teach it 1009 00:39:05,910 --> 00:39:08,160 and like, farthest thing from my mind, 1010 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,920 but it is a way to say how bad a storm's gonna be. 1011 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:12,720 If the Waffle House's are closing down, 1012 00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:13,860 you know it's a bad storm. 1013 00:39:13,860 --> 00:39:16,710 And so Mackenzie brought the Waffle House Index in, 1014 00:39:16,710 --> 00:39:18,210 which was such a great idea. 1015 00:39:18,210 --> 00:39:20,160 Christine - The learning objectives for act one, 1016 00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:23,700 not only our exposure to the different types 1017 00:39:23,700 --> 00:39:26,220 of career roles in the field, 1018 00:39:26,220 --> 00:39:28,320 but also what was the- 1019 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:30,000 Rachael - Yeah, so the learning objectives, 1020 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:34,020 there are a few that are addressed in act one. 1021 00:39:34,020 --> 00:39:36,480 First is to recognize weather information 1022 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:38,730 that's distributed from the National Hurricane Center. 1023 00:39:38,730 --> 00:39:40,410 This is actually something I want my students 1024 00:39:40,410 --> 00:39:41,250 to be able to do. 1025 00:39:41,250 --> 00:39:43,500 Not everyone taking my class lives along the coast, 1026 00:39:43,500 --> 00:39:46,440 but you should be able to take a quick look 1027 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:48,840 at that information that's available to the public 1028 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:50,400 and be able to interpret that. 1029 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,250 So we incorporate real National Hurricane Center data. 1030 00:39:53,250 --> 00:39:55,170 One of the learning objectives is 1031 00:39:55,170 --> 00:39:57,990 to understand the steps a meteorologist takes 1032 00:39:57,990 --> 00:39:59,370 in a typical workday. 1033 00:39:59,370 --> 00:40:01,920 So that particularly applies to act one. 1034 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:03,780 It's kind of incorporated throughout all of them, 1035 00:40:03,780 --> 00:40:06,000 but act one is the most, I would say, 1036 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,220 clear meteorologist role. 1037 00:40:08,220 --> 00:40:10,436 And then describing sources of uncertainty 1038 00:40:10,436 --> 00:40:11,970 a meteorologist faces. 1039 00:40:11,970 --> 00:40:13,470 Look, I know there's gonna be people 1040 00:40:13,470 --> 00:40:15,780 who listen to this and say meteorologists are always wrong 1041 00:40:15,780 --> 00:40:17,250 because we get that all the time. 1042 00:40:17,250 --> 00:40:18,450 I disagree with that statement. 1043 00:40:18,450 --> 00:40:20,790 That's a separate discussion. 1044 00:40:20,790 --> 00:40:23,640 But meteorologists are working with a lot of data 1045 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:25,260 and we're predicting the future 1046 00:40:25,260 --> 00:40:26,910 and that does come with uncertainties. 1047 00:40:26,910 --> 00:40:29,930 And so that's also a quantitative science goal 1048 00:40:29,930 --> 00:40:32,280 is to understand uncertainties in science. 1049 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:34,290 So we've really incorporated that into the course 1050 00:40:34,290 --> 00:40:35,340 and into act one. 1051 00:40:35,340 --> 00:40:38,940 Christine - So after they go through the broadcaster experience, 1052 00:40:38,940 --> 00:40:39,870 what's act two? 1053 00:40:39,870 --> 00:40:42,420 Rachael - So in act two this is really like, 1054 00:40:42,420 --> 00:40:44,490 once in a lifetime, you know, 1055 00:40:44,490 --> 00:40:45,720 you can't do this in real life, 1056 00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:47,610 I guess is maybe a better way to say it. 1057 00:40:47,610 --> 00:40:50,490 You are on a plane flying into the eye of a hurricane. 1058 00:40:50,490 --> 00:40:51,780 This is what hurricane hunters do. 1059 00:40:51,780 --> 00:40:53,070 They're a part of the Air Force. 1060 00:40:53,070 --> 00:40:56,160 So it is a real life career. I know people who have done it. 1061 00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:57,810 It's not something most students would get to do 1062 00:40:57,810 --> 00:40:59,040 as a part of a normal course, 1063 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,470 nor would they probably want to. 1064 00:41:01,470 --> 00:41:04,050 But this gives them the opportunity to do it safely. 1065 00:41:04,050 --> 00:41:07,380 And so they're in the role of the dropsonde officer. 1066 00:41:07,380 --> 00:41:09,450 A dropsonde is a tool you basically drop 1067 00:41:09,450 --> 00:41:12,840 out of the bottom of a plane and it falls through the storm 1068 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:16,350 and collects a vertical profile of the atmosphere. 1069 00:41:16,350 --> 00:41:18,960 So everything from humidity, temperature, 1070 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,840 wind speed is collected with this dropsonde. 1071 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:23,440 And one of the learning objectives 1072 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:25,170 we're really touching on here 1073 00:41:25,170 --> 00:41:27,120 is use of meteorological tools. 1074 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:29,490 And so they're releasing the dropsonde 1075 00:41:29,490 --> 00:41:33,930 while also looking out the window at the view of a storm. 1076 00:41:33,930 --> 00:41:36,330 And then watching that data come in 1077 00:41:36,330 --> 00:41:37,620 on what's called a sounding. 1078 00:41:37,620 --> 00:41:39,330 And then they're reading that sounding 1079 00:41:39,330 --> 00:41:41,010 and collecting that data. 1080 00:41:41,010 --> 00:41:42,630 So act two's really fun 1081 00:41:42,630 --> 00:41:44,460 and then they fly into the eye of the hurricane 1082 00:41:44,460 --> 00:41:45,930 and you can see birds out the window 1083 00:41:45,930 --> 00:41:47,430 that have got stuck in the eye, 1084 00:41:47,430 --> 00:41:49,920 and we double checked, that does really happen. 1085 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,050 Which, you know, just little fun things like that 1086 00:41:52,050 --> 00:41:54,180 that we've incorporated throughout the experience. 1087 00:41:54,180 --> 00:41:56,520 Christine - They would never get to do something like that 1088 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:58,830 with a traditional resource or reading about it in a book 1089 00:41:58,830 --> 00:42:00,900 or even watching a video about it. 1090 00:42:00,900 --> 00:42:04,293 They actually have the opportunity to release the dropsonde, 1091 00:42:05,127 --> 00:42:08,430 watch the data come in on the instrument, 1092 00:42:08,430 --> 00:42:10,680 and then read the instrument and then report it 1093 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:14,670 the way that a hurricane hunter would do in the field. 1094 00:42:14,670 --> 00:42:16,170 You just would not be able to do that 1095 00:42:16,170 --> 00:42:17,940 with traditional resources. 1096 00:42:17,940 --> 00:42:19,050 And what happens in act three? 1097 00:42:19,050 --> 00:42:21,090 Rachael - We have a cutscene at the beginning 1098 00:42:21,090 --> 00:42:24,600 that does show a view from a family's living room 1099 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:25,740 of the storm hitting. 1100 00:42:25,740 --> 00:42:26,573 This is- 1101 00:42:26,573 --> 00:42:28,320 Christine - Wait, tell everyone what a cutscene is. 1102 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,590 Rachael - Okay, so a cutscene's kind of like, 1103 00:42:30,590 --> 00:42:34,530 an intro, passive video, sets the mood, 1104 00:42:34,530 --> 00:42:36,720 provides some context and background information, 1105 00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:38,760 but the students aren't able to interact at this point. 1106 00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:41,040 It is the only, what I would call cutscene, 1107 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:42,690 in the three act experience 1108 00:42:42,690 --> 00:42:46,380 because we wanted to show what the storm hitting was like. 1109 00:42:46,380 --> 00:42:50,040 But the career path that we're following in act three 1110 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:52,200 is emergency rescue support, 1111 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:55,350 which doesn't come in until after the storm has cleared. 1112 00:42:55,350 --> 00:42:57,480 We did debate initially having this happen like, 1113 00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:58,920 live during the storm, 1114 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:00,990 and that just wasn't a realistic representation. 1115 00:43:00,990 --> 00:43:04,260 So we decided to do this cutscene to show the storm hitting 1116 00:43:04,260 --> 00:43:06,540 and then the family needs to be rescued. 1117 00:43:06,540 --> 00:43:10,320 And so the student has kind of a fun job. 1118 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:14,430 They're gonna be watching the view from a safe desk, 1119 00:43:14,430 --> 00:43:17,520 but a drone, they're kind of piloting a drone, 1120 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:19,770 that's trying to get to the family's house 1121 00:43:19,770 --> 00:43:21,750 to get an aerial survey of things 1122 00:43:21,750 --> 00:43:23,670 before rescue crews arrive. 1123 00:43:23,670 --> 00:43:27,390 Meanwhile, the student is on the phone with the family 1124 00:43:27,390 --> 00:43:29,190 helping to give them safety tips, 1125 00:43:29,190 --> 00:43:30,600 things to do or not do, 1126 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:32,220 which is, as we've talked about, 1127 00:43:32,220 --> 00:43:35,790 safety tips and making decisions throughout this process 1128 00:43:35,790 --> 00:43:37,290 is a big part of the learning objectives. 1129 00:43:37,290 --> 00:43:39,750 Christine - And also observing the real life aftermath 1130 00:43:39,750 --> 00:43:42,990 of the storm from alligators in the water 1131 00:43:42,990 --> 00:43:44,670 to downed power lines. 1132 00:43:44,670 --> 00:43:45,960 There's a lot in act three. 1133 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,300 Rachael - Yes, act three is our grand finale. 1134 00:43:48,300 --> 00:43:51,390 And so it's visually the most elaborate. 1135 00:43:51,390 --> 00:43:55,080 It's the only one that really takes you on a visual journey. 1136 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,510 It's not just sitting in one spot looking around, 1137 00:43:57,510 --> 00:43:59,460 which we've done things to make that still, 1138 00:43:59,460 --> 00:44:01,200 hopefully, interesting in act one and two. 1139 00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:03,840 But this really takes you down a coast 1140 00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:06,120 that has been flooded and into the neighborhood 1141 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:10,590 and seeing things that you may not necessarily think about, 1142 00:44:10,590 --> 00:44:11,850 which is kind of what you just touched on. 1143 00:44:11,850 --> 00:44:13,170 The power lines down, 1144 00:44:13,170 --> 00:44:15,180 you can get electrocuted going into flood waters. 1145 00:44:15,180 --> 00:44:16,470 People don't think about that. 1146 00:44:16,470 --> 00:44:19,530 There can be wildlife, sewage, bacteria. 1147 00:44:19,530 --> 00:44:22,890 Flood waters are a big no-no. So this helps to drive that. 1148 00:44:22,890 --> 00:44:24,750 Christine - Well, we're getting near the end of the podcast. 1149 00:44:24,750 --> 00:44:28,770 So if other instructors hear about this wonderful project 1150 00:44:28,770 --> 00:44:33,060 and are interested in starting their own, 1151 00:44:33,060 --> 00:44:33,893 number one, 1152 00:44:33,893 --> 00:44:36,900 kind of lay out what the process might look like, 1153 00:44:36,900 --> 00:44:38,610 an abbreviated version, 1154 00:44:38,610 --> 00:44:40,650 and what your recommendations are, 1155 00:44:40,650 --> 00:44:43,770 and maybe how they could reach out to resources 1156 00:44:43,770 --> 00:44:45,630 here at ASU or at Robert's office 1157 00:44:45,630 --> 00:44:48,660 in order to make a project happen for their courses. 1158 00:44:48,660 --> 00:44:50,430 Robert - Well, this is why I'm so happy that Rachael 1159 00:44:50,430 --> 00:44:51,990 has joined us as a PhD student 1160 00:44:51,990 --> 00:44:54,840 because this is what's going to become her dissertation, 1161 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:58,800 is how do we make these projects come together efficiently 1162 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:00,450 so that many different instructors 1163 00:45:00,450 --> 00:45:02,160 can come to us with their needs, 1164 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:03,840 we can spin up the student teams, 1165 00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:06,000 they're ready to go, they're ready to build, 1166 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,220 and push things forward. 1167 00:45:08,220 --> 00:45:10,740 So what that process might look like, 1168 00:45:10,740 --> 00:45:12,450 I mean, Rachael will probably talk, 1169 00:45:12,450 --> 00:45:15,330 but it's gonna involve having instructional designers 1170 00:45:15,330 --> 00:45:18,180 have conversations around the learning objectives, 1171 00:45:18,180 --> 00:45:20,760 figure out what are the central tensions of the plots 1172 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:22,860 that we want to be creating around that, 1173 00:45:22,860 --> 00:45:24,930 the environments, the situations, 1174 00:45:24,930 --> 00:45:27,810 creating a set of what we call asset lists 1175 00:45:27,810 --> 00:45:29,280 of things that need to be made 1176 00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:32,100 to pull them together and then basically producing. 1177 00:45:32,100 --> 00:45:33,990 And we're hoping to keep it efficient, 1178 00:45:33,990 --> 00:45:36,330 down to like, three-month turnaround time 1179 00:45:36,330 --> 00:45:39,300 for some short, you know, five minute, seven minute acts. 1180 00:45:39,300 --> 00:45:42,120 And cost them appropriately in such a way 1181 00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:44,490 that different units would be able to budget for this 1182 00:45:44,490 --> 00:45:45,323 as well. 1183 00:45:45,323 --> 00:45:46,440 And just build up teams of students 1184 00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:48,150 that will be ready to produce this 1185 00:45:48,150 --> 00:45:49,920 as a production studio at scale. 1186 00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:53,280 A blend of junior and senior artists, developers, 1187 00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:55,950 designers, storytellers, project managers, 1188 00:45:55,950 --> 00:45:57,570 that are all able to learn from each other 1189 00:45:57,570 --> 00:45:58,740 and build these together. 1190 00:45:58,740 --> 00:45:59,850 Rachael - I wanna follow that up 1191 00:45:59,850 --> 00:46:01,470 with another question for you, Robert. 1192 00:46:01,470 --> 00:46:04,410 If this ends up being a very popular idea 1193 00:46:04,410 --> 00:46:08,520 and tons of instructors are coming to you with requests, 1194 00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:11,070 what makes something stand out to you as worthwhile? 1195 00:46:11,070 --> 00:46:14,102 Because we've been talking recently about, you know, 1196 00:46:14,102 --> 00:46:17,760 budget and there has to be funding for these things. 1197 00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:20,400 So if you are working with a limited amount of funding 1198 00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:22,020 and you can't take on every project, 1199 00:46:22,020 --> 00:46:25,470 what makes something stand out as a good fit? 1200 00:46:25,470 --> 00:46:28,050 Robert - Well, first thing is I'll turn them over to you 1201 00:46:28,050 --> 00:46:30,147 and you'll help us make that decision. 1202 00:46:30,147 --> 00:46:33,000 But certainly I would hope that the units themselves, 1203 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:33,833 the academic units, 1204 00:46:33,833 --> 00:46:35,910 would bring in some funding themselves 1205 00:46:35,910 --> 00:46:37,380 to have this spun up. 1206 00:46:37,380 --> 00:46:39,000 We may also have some funding, 1207 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:40,830 discretionary funding as well, 1208 00:46:40,830 --> 00:46:42,570 or we could find some external sponsors 1209 00:46:42,570 --> 00:46:45,330 or philanthropists that could support this effort too. 1210 00:46:45,330 --> 00:46:46,590 We're always looking for that. 1211 00:46:46,590 --> 00:46:48,570 But then it's not just about the money, 1212 00:46:48,570 --> 00:46:50,700 it is about our time and our teaming 1213 00:46:50,700 --> 00:46:54,360 and deciding which stories are really compelling to tell. 1214 00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:57,720 And I think it comes down to what can VR really help with 1215 00:46:57,720 --> 00:47:00,300 or what can these gamified desktop experiences 1216 00:47:00,300 --> 00:47:01,500 really help with? 1217 00:47:01,500 --> 00:47:03,060 What are those narrative experiences 1218 00:47:03,060 --> 00:47:06,750 where immersivity actually helps the students learn 1219 00:47:06,750 --> 00:47:10,230 and embody their future selves, as it were? 1220 00:47:10,230 --> 00:47:11,183 That's gonna be a big part. 1221 00:47:11,183 --> 00:47:13,290 Christine - Just to build on top of that, 1222 00:47:13,290 --> 00:47:16,560 I think that's where the instructional design perspective 1223 00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:19,230 starts is when you are designing a course 1224 00:47:19,230 --> 00:47:22,890 and you're coming across an element that's missing. 1225 00:47:22,890 --> 00:47:26,100 And that's exactly what happened in GPH-212 1226 00:47:26,100 --> 00:47:29,220 was that traditional resources and materials 1227 00:47:29,220 --> 00:47:31,770 just were not meeting the learning objectives. 1228 00:47:31,770 --> 00:47:34,830 And because we had a very targeted gap, 1229 00:47:34,830 --> 00:47:38,640 it was easier to say, okay, this is what we need, 1230 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:40,650 this is what it might look like, 1231 00:47:40,650 --> 00:47:43,530 this is, you know, the story that we wanna tell. 1232 00:47:43,530 --> 00:47:45,600 And everything fell into place 1233 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:48,090 because we had an identified gap 1234 00:47:48,090 --> 00:47:51,030 that traditional materials weren't meeting. 1235 00:47:51,030 --> 00:47:53,580 And so I would say to instructors or IDs that are listening, 1236 00:47:53,580 --> 00:47:56,610 that's a great place to start because yeah, 1237 00:47:56,610 --> 00:47:58,590 it would be great to have an immersive experience 1238 00:47:58,590 --> 00:47:59,423 in every course. 1239 00:47:59,423 --> 00:48:00,480 That's the way of the future, 1240 00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:02,550 and hopefully this will be ASU's first 1241 00:48:02,550 --> 00:48:04,650 fully virtual reality course. 1242 00:48:04,650 --> 00:48:07,260 That's my long game goal. 1243 00:48:07,260 --> 00:48:09,720 I don't know about Robert's, but that's mine. 1244 00:48:09,720 --> 00:48:12,750 But to really narrow it down 1245 00:48:12,750 --> 00:48:15,450 and having a very targeted gap that you want to fill 1246 00:48:15,450 --> 00:48:18,870 with an immersive experience I would say is the first step 1247 00:48:18,870 --> 00:48:22,050 because everything will fall into place because of that. 1248 00:48:22,050 --> 00:48:23,850 Is that too much? Is that too big of a goal? 1249 00:48:23,850 --> 00:48:27,720 Can this be ASU's first virtual reality course? 1250 00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:29,250 Robert - If we're fast enough. 1251 00:48:29,250 --> 00:48:30,330 Rachael - Yeah, I was gonna say, 1252 00:48:30,330 --> 00:48:33,030 by the time I finish my PhD, I don't know. 1253 00:48:33,030 --> 00:48:35,190 Christine - That's my goal. I'm planting that seed. 1254 00:48:35,190 --> 00:48:36,510 This conversation has been great. 1255 00:48:36,510 --> 00:48:38,490 Thank you so much for joining us today 1256 00:48:38,490 --> 00:48:39,900 to share your experiences 1257 00:48:39,900 --> 00:48:41,700 and information about this project. 1258 00:48:41,700 --> 00:48:44,910 If our listeners want to learn more about you 1259 00:48:44,910 --> 00:48:46,770 or the projects that you're working on 1260 00:48:46,770 --> 00:48:49,440 or how they could contact you, how would they reach out? 1261 00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:51,090 Robert - Well Christine, thanks for having us first of all, 1262 00:48:51,090 --> 00:48:54,040 and thanks for joining us on this adventure together 1263 00:48:54,040 --> 00:48:55,560 and building this experience together. 1264 00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:59,610 If people want to search Meteor Studio, ASU Meteor Studio, 1265 00:48:59,610 --> 00:49:01,800 they'll find all of our contact information, 1266 00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:03,900 they'll find all of our ongoing projects. 1267 00:49:03,900 --> 00:49:05,610 We've got a lot of different learning 1268 00:49:05,610 --> 00:49:08,190 and training experiences that we're developing 1269 00:49:08,190 --> 00:49:09,660 so they can find out about us 1270 00:49:09,660 --> 00:49:11,340 through searching exactly that. 1271 00:49:11,340 --> 00:49:12,630 Christine- And METEOR spelled... 1272 00:49:12,630 --> 00:49:16,500 Robert - M-E-T-E-O-R, the thing that falls from the sky. 1273 00:49:16,500 --> 00:49:17,333 Rachael - I was gonna say, 1274 00:49:17,333 --> 00:49:19,860 and I have to draw one last little attention here 1275 00:49:19,860 --> 00:49:22,800 to the overlap between Meteor Studio and meteorology. 1276 00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:25,260 Christine - Exactly. Another part of the perfect storm. 1277 00:49:25,260 --> 00:49:26,850 Rachael - Yes. Robert - Apparently. 1278 00:49:26,850 --> 00:49:28,800 Christine - Rachael, how can our listeners get in touch with you? 1279 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:32,490 Rachael - Slack's great. Rachael Kaye. It's R-A-C-H-A-E-L. 1280 00:49:32,490 --> 00:49:33,690 So I do spell it differently. 1281 00:49:33,690 --> 00:49:36,600 Or it's Rachael dot K-A-Y-E, last name. 1282 00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:38,520 rachael.kaye@asu.edu. 1283 00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:40,080 Christine - Any projects that you wanna share? 1284 00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:42,390 Anything exciting coming up for either of you? 1285 00:49:42,390 --> 00:49:44,040 Robert - Well, we're developing this one out 1286 00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:46,080 and we're really trying to study it 1287 00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:49,260 and understand what is the impact that we can create here 1288 00:49:49,260 --> 00:49:51,360 and how do we replicate that at scale. 1289 00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:52,590 That's the big project I think 1290 00:49:52,590 --> 00:49:54,166 that Rachael and I are really focused on. 1291 00:49:54,166 --> 00:49:56,700 Rachael - Yeah. Hoping to turn this into a paper 1292 00:49:56,700 --> 00:49:58,890 I'll be submitting to iLearn, 1293 00:49:58,890 --> 00:50:01,987 which is a conference that'll be in Scotland next summer. 1294 00:50:01,987 --> 00:50:04,570 (upbeat music) 1295 00:50:07,830 --> 00:50:09,840 Elizabeth - It was so cool getting to talk 1296 00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:13,950 to these three amazing people and to hear all about 1297 00:50:13,950 --> 00:50:15,720 this like, just really cool thing that they're doing. 1298 00:50:15,720 --> 00:50:20,130 How they are bringing a really kind of foreign concept, 1299 00:50:20,130 --> 00:50:22,770 a thing that you can't do, 1300 00:50:22,770 --> 00:50:24,090 bringing it to students. 1301 00:50:24,090 --> 00:50:26,220 And it's an introduction class, 1302 00:50:26,220 --> 00:50:28,080 which is like, kind of cooler. 1303 00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:31,440 Like, you don't have to be super advanced in this program, 1304 00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:33,510 this field, to get to take this class. 1305 00:50:33,510 --> 00:50:35,820 So I almost looked it up to see like, 1306 00:50:35,820 --> 00:50:37,080 can I take this class right now? 1307 00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:38,610 Do I meet the prerequisites? 1308 00:50:38,610 --> 00:50:40,680 Ricardo - You get some of the practical experience too, 1309 00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:43,650 because there's a lot of didactic information 1310 00:50:43,650 --> 00:50:45,660 in the experience. 1311 00:50:45,660 --> 00:50:47,580 You know, make sure that your gas is off 1312 00:50:47,580 --> 00:50:51,210 if you're experiencing this real life scenario. 1313 00:50:51,210 --> 00:50:53,589 Elizabeth - My favorite part is learning how to read 1314 00:50:53,589 --> 00:50:56,577 hurricane meter... 1315 00:50:56,577 --> 00:50:57,510 Oh my god, I can't say it. 1316 00:50:57,510 --> 00:51:00,568 Meteorological data. 1317 00:51:00,568 --> 00:51:01,401 Data? Mary - Data. 1318 00:51:02,490 --> 00:51:03,323 Elizabeth - Just data. 1319 00:51:03,323 --> 00:51:07,020 And that's a real skill that not a lot of people have 1320 00:51:07,020 --> 00:51:09,660 that you can use today. Right now. 1321 00:51:09,660 --> 00:51:12,453 Maybe not in Arizona because we don't get weather. 1322 00:51:14,010 --> 00:51:15,360 But if I was anywhere else. 1323 00:51:16,890 --> 00:51:18,450 Ricardo - That might be the virtual experience for some people 1324 00:51:18,450 --> 00:51:21,930 is like, to be out in the Arizona sun, 1325 00:51:21,930 --> 00:51:23,280 and not have to actually be there. 1326 00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:24,960 Like, you can fly a plane into a hurricane 1327 00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:25,860 in this experience. 1328 00:51:25,860 --> 00:51:26,693 You can just, you know, 1329 00:51:26,693 --> 00:51:29,414 just see what it would look like with, you know- 1330 00:51:29,414 --> 00:51:30,956 Mary - To crack an egg on the sidewalk, 1331 00:51:30,956 --> 00:51:32,853 or cook a cookie on your hood? 1332 00:51:33,718 --> 00:51:35,340 Elizabeth - One time I saw a hurricane pass by 1333 00:51:35,340 --> 00:51:37,170 when I was in New Orleans and that was pretty cool. 1334 00:51:37,170 --> 00:51:39,090 It's the closest I've ever gotten to a hurricane. 1335 00:51:39,090 --> 00:51:42,150 Ricardo - Before we leave, how can people reach out to us? 1336 00:51:42,150 --> 00:51:44,220 Mary - coursestories@asu.edu. 1337 00:51:44,220 --> 00:51:46,320 Email us, hit us up on Slack. 1338 00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:49,380 You can reach out to Elizabeth Blythe. 1339 00:51:49,380 --> 00:51:50,940 You could reach out to Ricardo Leon, 1340 00:51:50,940 --> 00:51:51,930 or me, Mary Loder, 1341 00:51:51,930 --> 00:51:55,290 and we'd be happy to talk about the future of your course 1342 00:51:55,290 --> 00:51:57,836 being hosted and elevated on Course Stories. 1343 00:51:57,836 --> 00:52:00,419 (upbeat music) 1344 00:52:02,250 --> 00:52:03,420 Ricardo - Course Stories is available 1345 00:52:03,420 --> 00:52:05,010 wherever you listen to podcasts. 1346 00:52:05,010 --> 00:52:07,680 You can reach us at coursestories@asu.edu. 1347 00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:08,730 Course Stories is produced 1348 00:52:08,730 --> 00:52:11,220 by the Instructional Design and New Media Team 1349 00:52:11,220 --> 00:52:13,440 at EdPlus at Arizona State University. 1350 00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:15,540 If you're an instructor at ASU Online, 1351 00:52:15,540 --> 00:52:16,620 tell us your course story, 1352 00:52:16,620 --> 00:52:18,900 and we may feature it in a future episode. 1353 00:52:18,900 --> 00:52:19,950 Thanks for listening. 1354 00:52:23,670 --> 00:52:25,140 Elizabeth - It's just like... 1355 00:52:25,140 --> 00:52:26,130 Do you want me to start with how- 1356 00:52:26,130 --> 00:52:28,470 Ricardo - I'm just a font of just interesting information. 1357 00:52:28,470 --> 00:52:30,360 Elizabeth - Yeah, I can't be repeated, 1358 00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:32,850 but I will re-say, we're in realm five, 1359 00:52:32,850 --> 00:52:34,020 but we are learning about the realms. 1360 00:52:34,020 --> 00:52:36,540 I was like, oh my gosh, this is the MC Universe, 1361 00:52:36,540 --> 00:52:40,470 where I've gotta understand how Captain Marvel 1362 00:52:40,470 --> 00:52:42,300 is gonna interact with realm five 1363 00:52:42,300 --> 00:52:45,330 and how he gets from realm one to realm five 1364 00:52:45,330 --> 00:52:47,280 through the use of the Infinity Stones. 1365 00:52:48,401 --> 00:52:50,880 That's the ASU Realms. 1366 00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:52,020 Mary - I mean, kind of. 1367 00:52:52,020 --> 00:52:53,940 if you wanna know more about the ASU Realms, 1368 00:52:53,940 --> 00:52:54,773 we do have a website. 1369 00:52:54,773 --> 00:52:55,950 We'll put it in the teaching, 1370 00:52:55,950 --> 00:52:58,470 not the teaching, the show notes. 1371 00:52:58,470 --> 00:53:00,060 Ricardo - This is going on as a tag at the end. 1372 00:53:00,060 --> 00:53:02,430 Mary - Perfect. Ricardo - Post-credit scene. 1373 00:53:02,430 --> 00:53:05,253 Elizabeth - Oh my gosh. We are the MC Universe.