2017 Provost's Learning Innovations Grants
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2017 Provost’s Learning Innovations Grants 2017 PROVOST’S LEARNING INNOVATIONS GRANTS APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS 1. Complete this Application Form, in its entirety, and save as “Lastname_Firstname_APP” (using your name). 2. Complete the Budget Worksheet and save as “Lastname_Firstname_BUDGET” (using your name). 3. Ask your Department Head to complete the Department Head Certification, scan and save as, “Lastname_Firstname_SIG” (using your name). 4. Email all documents to [email protected], no later than 11:59pm EST, January 25, 2017. If you have any questions about completing this application, please email [email protected], or contact Michael Starenko at 585-475-5035 or [email protected]. APPLICANT INFORMATION This application is for a: Exploration Grant x Focus Grant Principal Applicant name: Jennifer Poggi Faculty title: Assistant Professor Email: [email protected] Phone: (202)510-1079 (Full-time only) College: CIAS Department: SPAS / Photojournalism Department Head name: Therese Mulligan __________________________________ Email: [email protected] Others involved in the project (if any): Nitin Simpat, Josh Meltzer, Susan Lakin, Juilee Decker, Joe Geigel Project name: Exploring VR/360 Video Through Interdisciplinary Experiential Student Learning Total funds requested (as calculated on the budget worksheet): $5000.00 (requests of $1,000 to $5,000 will be considered) 3 2017 Provost’s Learning Innovations Grants BUDGET There is a fillable PDF worksheet to calculate your budget. You can download the worksheet at rit.edu/ili/plig. • The total shown on this worksheet must match the “Total funds requested” in the Applicant Information section of this application form • If awarded, additional funds will be provided to cover any benefits and ITS expenses associated with the salary budget requested • Note that any equipment or other materials purchased with grant funds are the property of your department and revert to the department after your project is completed TIMELINE Please indicate any variances to the planned PLIG 2017 schedule and your reasons. If you do not intend to deviate from the schedule, you may leave this section blank. Task Date Proposed Variance and Reason Full project plan submitted August 23, 2017 Preliminary findings submitted January 10, 2018 Summary of final findings submitted August 22, 2018 Final budget accounting submitted August 22, 2018 Teaching and Learning Commons submission due (posting a summary of October 3, 2018 findings, examples of teaching designs or materials, etc.) Participation in Teaching and Learning Services PLIG dissemination event November 2018 (e.g., PLIG Showcase) 4 1 2017 Provost’s Learning Innovations Grants STATEMENT OF UTILITY (two pages maximum) Using the evaluation criteria outlined in the Proposal Evaluation section of the PLIG website, please provide an overview of the project you are proposing, including: • Project objectives • An explanation of the teaching/learning problem(s) it is designed to address • An explanation of the significance of the project to student outcomes and/or the student experience. • A brief description of how the project integrates with activity already underway at RIT in a priority area and/or how this approach has been successfully used at RIT already. Project Objectives: Virtual Reality and 360 video have quickly become the most talked about new media, with the application of these technologies currently impacting a wide array of fields, spanning education, entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing and beyond. There are already burgeoning efforts to utilize this technology in departments across campus. The faculty cohort involved in this application has formed with the intention of combining our individual VR/360 video research and development efforts to more effectively innovate in the areas of equipment development and performance, enhanced storytelling capabilities and audience engagement. Our current students are intricately involved in the effort and we expect this to be the case as we progress through each stage of our plan. The cutting edge nature of this project makes an active learning environment a necessity, as there is very little in the way of traditional learning resources available. Virtual Reality/ 360 video is on the cusp of becoming a widely adopted technology. Both lo and high-tech companies are already searching for interns and full time employees who understand how to successfully deploy VR/360 technology. Perhaps more important, these organizations demand a workforce that has learned how to learn. The learning environment we have created offers students a set of 21st century skillsets that will prepare them to problem solve current technology, but also to anticipate the future needs of industry and innovate accordingly. After all, it is the student who displays the level of agility and grit necessary to successfully navigate this fluid learning experience who will become the future leaders in their respective fields. An increasing number of professional content creators desire to make and share their work in 360 degrees. We at Rochester Institute of Technology want to lead the way in this field. Our Institute has been a leader in photographic education for over 100 years. We educate professional photographers, cinematographers, directors, as well as scientists and engineers in the imaging space. Specifically, the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences spans majors in photographic sciences as well as photographic arts. Using the Facebook Surround 360 cameras, as well as other professional equipment, we can build, test, and create content. Faculty and student creators will aid in exploring and pioneering the opportunities offered to professionals in creating VR/360 video content. We feel strongly that RIT faculty and students should not only be improving the technology behind VR/360 video and using this medium at its highest possible level, but also be applying this knowledge in innovative ways while helping the larger community figure out how and when this medium is most appropriately used. Therefore, this proposal seeks to formally introduce VR/360 video into the RIT Photography program, and expand its use in the Museum Studies and other departments’ curriculum over the next two years. As such, our research and development efforts will ultimately address the larger challenges of integrating emerging technologies into the classroom. The following work is already taking place in semester 2165. Professor Nitin Sampat is working with students in the Photographic Sciences program to build the Facebook Surround 360 camera to Facebook’s open source specifications. They will conduct tests to quantify the performance and image quality of the camera. They also propose to design, build and test a lower cost alternative to this camera, as well as conduct research on the many challenges audio engineering presents when deployed with 360 visual content. This work will involve practical application methods of the technology and align with research and development of successful methods for creating, editing and experiencing VR/360 video content, which Professor Susan Lakin and Assistant Professors Josh 5 2 2017 Provost’s Learning Innovations Grants STATEMENT OF UTILITY (continued) Meltzer and Jenn Poggi are doing in the CIAS Advertising and Photojournalism programs, Associate Professor Juilee Decker is pursuing in the COLA Museum Studies program, and Professor Joe Geigel’s work in GCCIS Computer Science Department. Subsequently, the camera(s) built by Sampat’s students will be deployed for students to use for content generation in nonfiction documentary storytelling, commercial and advertising applications, and the creation of immersive audience experiences in personal and public spaces. Lakin is working with students to examine how approaches to traditional storytelling can be explored in commercial applications, allowing marketers to grab the complete attention of their target audience. This semester, she and Geigel are introducing VR/360 video in Music Video Production, an interdisciplinary course that brings together students from computer science and visual arts to work collaboratively on an interactive music video experience with professional musicians in our community. Meltzer and Poggi are facilitating the use of VR/360 equipment in three courses, beginning in the third year Foundations of Photojournalism course, when students pitch and begin work their senior capstones, a year-long documentary projects. Students, in consultation with their committees, who determine VR/360 video to be an appropriate medium to tell their story, will use part of the Foundations and Senior Project courses to experiment with the camera. This will include learning its operation, limitations and, most importantly, how it will be a crucial tool to produce their project. A team of students in Picture Editing II will focus specifically on how to edit and produce narratives in this medium, while students in the Interactive Nonfiction Storytelling class will explore best practices for displaying this content in online storytelling platforms. Students in Decker’s Visitor Engagement & Technologies class, among others, explore answers to two key questions: 1) How does technology provide a platform for contribution, collaboration, co-creation, and co-opting of experiences among all visitors? and 2) Can technology mediate the best possible experience for visitors? They will serve as user-testers in a variety of contexts, including database and CMS development, app prototyping and iterative