Community Engagement and Education through Virtual Reality
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Date
2019-04
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ohio State University. Office of Outreach and Engagement
Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) provides an efficient way to transport audiences to destinations on land, sea, and in the air without having to leave their chair. VR is the future of educational field trips and can be implemented into Extension programming. Through community partnerships, Extension educators are developing VR videos to educate youth on food sustainability and employment opportunities in their community.
Description
The sustainability of rural communities is a challenge many Extension educators are facing. Local foods systems are a key component of sustainable community development programming (Ikerd, 2008). Less than two percent of Americans are farmers and as a result, the majority of the nation is disconnected from the concepts of food production. Woolpert (2005) and Ikerd (2008) suggest food system education as a key component for sustainability in communities, and technology and media can be used to achieve these goals. Effective communication is one strategy that can be used for community engagement and sustainability. Research has shown that rural communities and the agricultural industry in the United States communicate the best with the population at-large when using transparency in communication and by keeping up with the trends of communication practices (G. Johnson, 2016). One way to have transparency in communications is the use of virtual reality video (VR) (Meyer, 2018). VR seems like it is a futuristic concept; however, the future of VR technology is readily available and is gaining popularity with educational institutions through the implementation of virtual field trips. In one rural community, an Extension educator is using VR technology to educate about local food systems and employment opportunities. A trial of Extension produced VR videos were tested at the Highland County fair, which resulted in positive feedback from participants. The next steps in this project include forming partnerships with Highland County school districts, the Highland County Chamber of Commerce, and local job development office to expand the project. Partnerships will determine the next locations to film and the content of the VR videos. VR videos allow for the maximum efficiency of time and resource management for partners because field trips would no longer require transportation and drivers on a regular basis. While VR cannot replace the experience of an actual visit to a farm, it can provide an interactive experience for youth to learn about the world around them. Participant evaluations will be conducted following the implementation of the VR videos created through the partnerships to determine the effectiveness and impact of the project.
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Brooke Beam, OSU Extension educator, Highland County, beam.49@osu.edu (Corresponding Author)
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Brooke Beam, OSU Extension educator, Highland County, beam.49@osu.edu (Corresponding Author)
Keywords
virtual reality, community engagement, 360 video, food sustainability, employment
Citation
Engaged Scholars, v. 7 (2019).