Penn State instructor Tammy Bennett wanted to enhance her internationalized ERM 499A course’s learning experience on their study abroad trip to Costa Rica. She thought that an excellent way to do that was to participate in Media Commons’ Mobile Media Pilot program which put iPod touch devices into the hands of each of her students so they could capture their experiences in video and photos.
Higher order thinking skills were developed through group collaboration, negotiating content, reviewing footage, contributing information and analyzing data. -Tammy Bennett
Upon their return, Tammy’s students edited videos that presented information and research on natural resource topics. The videos served as support for the student’s technical reports which they wrote on the same topics.
The coupled video-and-paper final project was a good tool for learning” –ERM 499A Student
After the success she saw in her students’ completed videos, Tammy, along with Media Commons Consultant Lauren Rodgers, participated in a poster presentation at North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture‘s annual conference held this June at Virginia Tech. Their presentation highlighted how the integration of mobile media in Tammy’s course created a better learning experience for her students, how the use of it in her class compared to other courses participating in the program and ways for others to replicate the assignment.
“The presentation was very well received by all the conference attendees. I spoke to many faculty members who were eager to know how the mobile media was incorporated into the internationalized course curriculum and how to assign a similar project themselves.” – Tammy Bennett
