Aalto Online Learning - Online Hybrid Lab

360° provides access

There are many situations when it is difficult or right out impossible to take students to a certain field-specific environment, such as a specific building, factory, or spot in nature. In this article we give you examples of how you with 360° can allow your students to explore these environments virtually.

With 360°, distance becomes a lesser problem

When traveling is too time-consuming or expensive, your students can get virtual access to places anywhere in the world. Also, in times of crisis, such as pandemics or war situations, 360° offers the possibility to travel virtually. A 360° picture lets students immerse themselves in an environment of field-specific interest and gives them a true feeling for the place, despite not being able to go there in real life. For example, engineering students can get close to tunnels or bridges, architects can enter famous buildings, students who learn languages can become acquainted with places where the language is spoken, and physics students can get inside the ATLAS experiment in Cern. These environments can be augmented with videos, texts, quizzes, i.e. with information and assignments.

What are the distant places that would be interesting for your students to visit through 360°?

Buenos Aires 360 at Thinglink, screenshot from 360 photo

Photo of Buenos Aires 360 at Thinglink.

Image from remote site: www.thinglink.com

An interactive image provided by www.thinglink.com

360° environments are safe and doors are always open

When interesting places are not safe for students to visit in real life, 360° environments can offer a solution. Laboratories are a great example.

At Aalto, the Chemistry department offers a range of laboratory safety training courses by using 360° pictures from their physical laboratories. Other places where access is limited due to safety could be building sites, factories or power plants. Of course there are many other reasons why interesting places are not open for students to visit. If you have the possibility of taking 360° there, you can open these doors for your students.

360° environment offers time traveling opportunities

Sometimes interesting environments don't last. It could be an exhibition, a room or house that is about to be renovated or a building site.

With 360°, you have the chance to virtually preserve these for your students. You can also follow a process by taking 360° pictures of the same environment at different times. This way you can for example provide your students access to a project's different phases or to an outdoor environment at different times of the year.