From online to outside: An experiment in teaching and applying digital skills in the outdoors

Dale Blasingame

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2017)
'Designs on e-Learning: Anxiety and Security' Special Issue

Case Studies

From online to outside: An experiment in teaching and applying digital skills in the outdoors

Published 2017-05-22

Dale Blasingame

Dale Blasingame
Texas State University

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Abstract

Changing the typical learning environment can be intimidating and add stress to the learning equation for the student, but it doesn’t have to. For example, which of the following scenarios is less stressful for students and provides the best opportunity for success: online learning or experimental learning? Why not both? This paper will provide key takeaways from a course taught this semester that put students squarely outside of their comfort zones - in two different ways. This particular course consisted of two sections – online learning and an overnight, in-person workshop at a state park. After the course was completed, students were surveyed on several different topics related to anxiety and security. The experiment found students enjoyed learning outside of the normal, classroom setting – and had few issues regarding the process of learning about technology in the outdoors.

Keywords

Mobile, Journalism, Storytelling, Outdoors, Parks

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Author Biography

Dale Blasingame

Dale Blasingame is a senior lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University in San Marcos (Texas), where he completed a master’s degree from in 2011 with a focus in New Media studies. Working in the SJMC Digital Media faculty, he teaches courses that introduce students to different aspects of how technology is changing journalism and media. He has visited all 95 state parks in Texas in one year, and he’s now visiting all 400+ national park properties in the United States. In addition to his duties, Blasingame is also the social media director for Leadhub, an Internet marketing company in San Antonio. Before transitioning to Texas State, he was a television news producer.

References

Blasingame, D. (2016) Final Class Survey. Internal report. Unpublished.
Blasingame, D. (2016) ‘Test-driving an entrepreneurial course’, Teaching Media Entrepreneurship, 28 June. Available from: https://medium.com/teaching-media-entrepreneurship/test-driving-an-entrepreneurial-course-9260123a381b#.d2p697rx6 (Accessed: 20 March 2017).
Masip, P. and Mico, J.L. (2009) ‘El periodista polivalente en el marco de la convergencia empresarial’ in Convergència tecnològica i audiovisual, quaderns del CAC 31-32. Barcelona: Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya, pp.91-99.
Royal, C. (2016) ‘Developing a new major in digital media innovation at Texas State’, Mediashift, 5 December. Available from: http://mediashift.org/2016/12/developing-new-major-digital-media-innovation/ (Accessed: 20 March 2017).
Sánchez-Garcia, P., Campos-Domínguez, E. and Berrocal Gonzalo, S. (2015) ‘The unalterable functions of journalists in view of the emerging multimedia job profiles’, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 70, pp.187-208. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2015-1042en (Accessed: 20 March 2017).