Geological Society of America

T363 Building an Inclusive Geoscience Community Today for Tomorrow (Posters)

Wednesday, 25 October 2017
9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Halls 4EF

USING MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES TO DEVELOPING INCLUSIVE GEOLOGY FIELD EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS WITH MOBILITY DISABILITIES

Paper number: T363-6
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM

Authors

Helen Crompton Presenting Author
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
Trevor Collins
The Open University, Milton Keynes
Steven Whitmeyer
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Chris Atchison
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Jennifer Piatek
Connecticut
Eric Pyle
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Susan Eriksson
Davis, CA
Anita M. Marshall
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Ivan Carabajal
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Abstract

In the GP-EXTRA: Engaging Students in Inclusive Geoscience Field Experiences via Onsite-Remote Partnerships project, an interdisciplinary team explored the affordances of mobile technologies in supporting students with disabilities on geological field trips. From this project, a group of nine faculty experts came together from multiple disciplines, including geology, education, and computer science to design, develop, and implement an inclusive geology field trip on the west coast of Ireland.

The group worked with 11 geology students from various higher education institutions in the US. Six of the students had mobility challenges, and the other five students were fully mobile. For this field trip, students were groups as two mobile and two less mobile students. The geological trips had the two students who were mobile at one location and the two students who were less mobile at another location. Each location had interesting features that were accessible to those students. To share with the other members of the team technology was used to connect the students.

Students were given iPads and using various applications, such as note taking tools and virtual synchronous and asynchronous applications, the students were able to communicate with their partners and share their geological findings. Students, in particular the less mobile students found this field trip inclusive and described the way that they were able to access locations through the technology that they previously could not access. The students with mobility issues used the technology to talk with their partners, ask questions and direct them to where they wanted to explore further with the camera. We will be sharing the findings from field trip including how mobile technologies and applications supported learning as well as lessons learned on improving the technologies and the pedagogical use of the technology to best provide an inclusive learning experience.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 49, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-301561

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