2022-12-01 –, Stage 2, Einstein-Saal, BBAW
As part of the DAAD project MyScore, software for avatar-based teaching and learning was created, tested and put into regular operation at RWTH Aachen University. The presentation will describe the possibilities of the open source solution as well as the experiences with the possibilities of virtual mobility in a binational study program.
*For more information see the [website] (https://vredu.lfi.rwth-aachen.de/en/).
The open source software MyScore for avatar-based teaching and learning aims to give students and lecturers the possibility to collaborate and interact with each other in 3D VR scenarios, independent of their real location.
Students and lecturers are represented by avatars and can communicate with each other in the various VR scenarios, with a 360-degree neuro and audio function guaranteeing a realistic perception. Collaboration among participants is enabled in the VR scenarios through browser-based functionalities; everything they can accomplish in the real world via web browser is also available to them in VR.
In addition, there are separate VR scenarios in which haptic processes, such as the use of laboratory experiments or, for example, the construction of mobile flood protection walls, can also be realized.
The existing 3D scenarios range from simple conference rooms for communication to role-play scenarios for the development of communication skills and virtualized laboratory rooms. They are available to users as open educational resources for immediate use.
The software was developed as an open source solution within the DAAD project MyScore at RWTH Aachen University; all scenarios are provided as Open Educational Resources in the sense of UNESCO under a CC BY 4.0 license.
The software was developed from scratch, tested and is now embedded in the curriculum of two study programs at RWTH Aachen University.
*The presented examples of use refer to the English-language Master's program Sustainable Management - Water and Energy in cooperation with the Politecnico di Milano as well as different modules in the Civil Engineering program.
Heribert Nacken studied civil engineering (specializing in hydraulic engineering & water management, urban water management and water-energy management) at RWTH Aachen University until 1986. He completed his doctorate there at the Department of Water-Energy-Economy in 1990. Nacken became university professor at the Department of Engineering Hydrology of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at RWTH Aachen University in 2001. Since 2002, he has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the UNESCO International Hydrological Program and the WMO Operational Hydrological Program (IHP/HWRP). From 2005 to 2012, he also served as Dean of Studies at the faculty. Since 2010, Prof. Nacken has additionally headed the UNESCO Chair in Hydrological Change and Water Resources Management. In 2012, he was appointed Rectorates Delegate for Blended Learning and Exploratory Teaching Space and since then has been taking care of the further development of digital teaching at RWTH Aachen University.