Embedded Files
Lindsay Pantry, from the School of Journalism, Media and Communication, recently created a unique learning experience for first-year Journalism students. To provide a more realistic and engaging approach to news gathering, Lindsay designed a crime scene simulation based on a local incident.
By immersing students in a simulated crime scene, the experience aimed to help them understand the complexities of gathering information for a news story. The experience provided students with a hands-on opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge in a practical setting.
This article will delve into the details of how this immersive experience was created and explore the benefits of using such technologies in education.
Lindsay Pantry- University Teacher, Department of Journalism Studies
Sophie Ward- Digital Learning Adviser, Digital Learning Team
In the past the students have been given information to write a news story in the form of either written quotes and a press release, or a mock press conference. However, Lindsay was keen to redesign this task to give the students a closer experience to gathering information in the real world.
Wonda VR was the platform used for this project and it is a University supported tool which allows users to create immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences. It's designed to be user-friendly, even for those without technical backgrounds.
The Planning Process
The simulation was carefully crafted to provide students with a realistic and educational experience. Here's a glimpse into the process behind creating this immersive learning environment.
1. Developing the Storyline:
The first step was to create a clear narrative. Lindsay envisioned a crime scene that would require students to interview a range of people and gather evidence to piece together a news story.
2. Creating Character Scripts:
To make the experience as authentic as possible, scripts were created for each character. For this project, the scripts included a Detective Inspector, neighbour, the Parish councillor and a pub Landlord and the interviews captured their reactions to the crime.
3. Selecting the Location:
Lindsay used a familiar location where she could place props such as flowers and Police tape. She also organised the use of the local pub for one of the interviews.
4. Enlisting the Help of Colleagues:
To bring the characters to life, Lindsay asked her colleagues to participate as actors. Lisa Bradley, Will Oliphant and Jenny Eells filmed interviews for the experience which provided students with opportunities to practise their interviewing skills and gather information.
Filming
Filming
Muhebur Shaha filmed the different interviews on the day and alongside this a 360-degree camera was used to capture a street view of the area. This allowed students to explore the scene virtually and discover the embedded interviews at their own pace.
All the footage was uploaded to Kaltura, the university's video hosting platform. From here it can be embedded into Wonda VR.
Need filming equipment? The Creative Media Team has a range of equipment available for staff and students to borrow.
Building the Experience on Wonda VR
The 360 images and interviews were uploaded onto Wonda VR where interactive elements were added. The experience includes a range of quizzes, images, videos and interactive buttons. To learn more about using Wonda VR please visit our guidance pages.
Have an idea but unsure where to start? Book an Elevate 1:1 to understand how Wonda VR can be used to create your project.
Staff Feedback
Staff Feedback
The experience was used in workshops with students where some students viewed it on a computer but others used a VR headset. The staff who lead the workshops commented:
‘It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to make the experience, and it's made me think more creatively about my workshop sessions.’
‘It was a great opportunity for students to experience going out on a story, interviewing people and making decisions without having to leave the classroom’
‘We saw a lot of students using the material from the vr session in their final assessment.’
‘Some of the students were really excited about using the VR headsets, and gave great feedback about how realistic it felt’
‘The stories the students wrote from using the experience were a lot more in depth than similar ones written using press releases.’
Student Feedback
Student Feedback
Students were extremely positive with regard to using the immersive news gathering experience.
A ‘fun experience” and it was engaging “collecting the information myself”.
‘I thought the session was very engaging and enjoyable as it offered a more interactive experience in which you could build the story yourself rather than reading from a page of information.’
“one of the liveliest sessions” of the semester.
‘I was more invested because we had to go and find the quotes ourselves.’
‘Last year we were just kind of given like a bunch of text, like just a press release. It's not very engaging. Whereas this I felt like you were just there, doing the actual reporting and getting a sense of people's facial expressions just feels more realistic.’
‘One participant, who described themself as a “visual learner” said seeing the video interviews made it easier for her to decide on which emotive quotes to include in the story.’
‘It's quite good that you can just go out in a controlled environment such as this and actually take stuff in, and it gets you on that line of thinking of, okay, who should I be going to speak to for this, that and the other, and just how a prompt and social media can be taken into creating a story.’
‘VR is arguably the closest thing to a real news interaction,” and that the videos gave you an idea of what to expect, and how the process of getting a story would work. One said they felt like then “actually went there, so when I did go out to interview people I wasn’t so scared”.
Supporting materials
Supporting materials
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