The DH Meet-Up: Podcasting and the VR Classroom Recap

Photo Submitted

Top: Rhodora Vennarucci; Bottom: Michael Hall.

The Digital Humanities Meet-Up held an event on "Podcasting and the VR Classroom" at the World Languages and Digital Humanities Studio, J.B. Hunt Transportation Center, room 207, on March 14. 

The Meet-Up featured talks by studio researchers Larissa Rocha and Michael Hall, as well as an Anchor demo by Rhodora Vennarucci, classical studies. Rocha kicked things off by talking about the podcast booth at the World Languages and Digital Humanities Studio. She went over best practices on podcasting and talked to attendees about how they can book the podcasting booth. Rocha also shared examples of how instructors have incorporated podcast assignments into their syllabi and how students can schedule a meeting to dive deeper into podcasting with tutorials. 

Vennarucci spoke to attendees about a podcasting assignment she incorporated into her course CLST 4003H: Shopping in Ancient Rome – Podcasting the Past, part of her ongoing project, "Virtual Roman Retail." The assignment, the Shop 'Til You Drop podcast, assigned students with the task of recording 20-minute podcast episodes in small groups about ancient Roman shops. Students were able to choose the genre/style of podcast they wanted to create, as well as independently delegate the group work (such as developing a script, editing, speaking, etc.) with check-ins throughout the project by Vennarucci. Students used the RODECaster Pro in the podcast booth to record their podcasts, then edited the recordings with Audacity. The final products were then uploaded through Anchor, which is now integrated into Spotify.  

Following the podcasting segment, Hall presented on the VR Classroom, formerly known as the VR Club for Language Learning, founded by them along with alumnus Jhonatan Carmona. Hall shared how VR Classroom has worked with many language sections in the department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures to bring an immersive learning experience, where students can gain valuable experience with the target language through engaging VR games - such as cooking apps, ImmerseMe, Language Lab and other applications. Hall concluded the presentation with a demonstration of one of the VR apps used by VR Classroom, with volunteer participation by Linda Jones, chair of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures. 

The next DH Meet-Up will be held at the World Languages and Digital Humanities Studio (JBHT 207) from 12:30-1:45 p.m. on March 28, featuring studio FLTA Alena Shestopalova and Daniela D'Eugenio (Italian). The DH Meet-Up will be titled "Izi Travel and Wakelet." 

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