Bringing fieldwork right into the lab

School children often say learning science is boring as it has all been done before, but using novel touch technologies to connect field and laboratory students the ‘Out There and In Here’ project proved existing British Geological Survey maps were incorrect.

One of the benefits of mobile technologies is to combine ‘digital’ (e.g. data, photos) with ‘field’ experiences in novel ways that are contextualised by people’s current activities. However, cost, mobility disabilities and time constraints often exclude students from engaging in such peripatetic experiences. The ‘Out There and In Here’ (OTIH) project explores the use of mobile and tabletop technologies to support collaborative learning.

The project team led by Anne Adams of the OU’s Institute of Educational Technology (IET) is working to show how OTIH develops interconnected user-friendly touch systems in tables, iPads and phones that can seamlessly connect and support co-discovery for students who might be up a mountain or in a museum with those inside a laboratory or in their home.

A key moment in the findings came when students in the field realised, while discussing information from the laboratory, that the British Geological Survey map was ‘wrong’ and their research had proved it.

The research will benefit:

Practitioners, in developing approaches to teaching and learning

Students, with more engaging and effective methods for learning

Technology and learning designers, developing appropriate systems for student situations.

The project team includes the OU’s Faculty of Science and Knowledge Media Institute, Microsoft Research, Cambridge and OOKL software. The research is funded with £185,000 from the EPSRC-led Digital Economies programme.

Out There and In Here project