Whether climbing the rocky surface of a hillside or wandering the beach of a coastal plain, experiencing a landscape is essential to understanding Geology.
Alvin Community College Geology instructor John Mohr feels that a virtual tour can be a valuable alternative when students cannot take part in a field trip to a natural setting.
“If I had a drone, I could record myself at Enchanted Rock, stop occasionally, film myself talking about different features,” he said. “If I recorded that, it can be a field trip that I can use and ask questions about, test students on and they can get that same experience but in a classroom.”
The ACC Foundation recently awarded Mohr a $2,000 grant to purchase a drone to create virtual tours of different landscapes for Geology students.
The grant was awarded through the Foundation’s Innovative Initiative program. The program is designed to encourage, facilitate, recognize, and reward innovative and creative approaches to fulfilling the college’s mission. The grants will be used for the 2024-25 academic year.
“I first thought of this during the COVID pandemic and we had to convert our courses online,” Mohr said. “The first thing I lost was all of these physical field trips.”
Mohr said nothing can ever replace the experience of being on-site and studying the landscape in person. However, the virtual field trips supplement the course and can give students a chance to see something up close that they haven’t before.
“It’s nice if I’m talking about faults in Geology and there’s several places where you can film those and I can talk about them live,” he said. “They seem to be more engaged when I have video content rather than just hearing me lecture.”
While the virtual tours will be geared toward Geology courses, Mohr believes they can eventually be outfitted with other programs, including Biology or Art.
“We can fly this anywhere and anytime,” he said. “I love working with other departments, I’m looking forward to this and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
