Virtual Campus Tour Application through Markerless Augmented Reality Approach

Augmented Reality (AR) technology has been widely used on campus tours by universities all around the world. However, the students that stay very far away do not have a chance to visit around the campus. Also, the information that is available on the official website is static, resulting in the visitors feeling less engaged with the information. Hence, the virtual campus tour application using the markerless AR technology, namely AR-UTHM Tour is proposed to be developed on the Android mobile-based platform to visualize the buildings and facilities that are available in the university, specifically Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). This approach allows the users to visualize the 3D models by pointing the camera at any flat surface. Then, the feature point will be generated to generate a virtual plane. The information about the facilities was obtained from the UTHM official website and the 3D models of the buildings were referred to the floor plan and the actual images. The user acceptance test has been conducted on 30 students of UTHM using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The result shows that more than 50% of the respondents have successfully executed the AR session without any error. Overall results show that the users are satisfied with the AR-UTHM Tour application. In conclusion, this application is suitable to be used as a medium to introduce and promote UTHM virtually. Future improvements in terms of detailing the aesthetic of the 3D model will be taken into consideration.

Simulating the Impacts of Hybrid Campus and Autonomous Electric Vehicles as GHG Mitigation Strategies: A Case Study for a Mid-Size Canadian Post-Secondary School

This paper presents how a post-secondary institution like University of British Columbia’s Okanagan (UBCO) campus can reduce its carbon footprint and be aligned with the government’s target through promoting virtual campus and autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs). Different virtual campus scenarios are developed: online classes only, working-from-home only, and a hybrid of both. In the case of AEVs, alternative penetration rates for levels 2 and 5 are considered. A total of 50 scenarios are tested using a sub-area transport simulation model for UBCO, which is extracted from the regional travel demand forecasting model. The results suggest that a 40% AEV penetration rate coupled with fully in-person classes reduces GHG by ~36% compared to the 2018-level, which will help UBCO to achieve their 2030 emission reduction target and be aligned with the provincial target. The 50% AEV and 10% hybrid virtual campus reduces emissions by ~48%, which is aligned with the 2040 provincial target. A fully virtual campus will help to reach the 2050 provincial target by reducing GHG by ~76%. The results further demonstrate that level 5 AEVs produce lesser emissions than level 2 at a lower AEV penetration rate for the fully in-person campus scenario. At higher penetration rates, level 5 performs better only if it is coupled with 10% of students, faculties and staffs attending virtual campus scenario.

Still Open During the Covid-19 Lockdown: An Analysis of Online Students’ Engagement with the Virtual Campus

The global pandemic caused by the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent mandatory lockdown made university students spend more time at home, changing their daily habits including studying, as a consequence of the forced self-confinement. In this article we describe the changes observed in the connection patterns to the institutional learning management system of the students enrolled in a Spanish online university during the lockdown. Our results show that the students were more likely to connect to the virtual campus, they did so more evenly over the days of the week, and more concentrated in a few hours in the central part of the days. Interestingly, the changes in students’ connection patterns were not associated with their socio-demographic characteristics, although they were affected by their academic trajectory and their academic enrolment.

Evolución del comportamiento de los estudiantes de Biomecánica en el campus virtual

Este estudio compara el uso realizado del campus virtual por los estudiantes de la asignatura de Biomecánica del Grado en Podología de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, durante los cursos académicos, 2017-18 y 2019-20, y su relación con el rendimiento académico. En el segundo curso la metodología docente se implementó introduciendo evaluaciones formativas en el aula y la clase invertida en las prácticas clínicas de sala. Se extrajeron de las asignaturas virtualizadas un total de 52.779 registros almacenados en la plataforma Moodle entre ambos cursos académicos. Los logs fueron depurados, anonimizados y analizados con los programas R y SPSS v.25. Frente a un comportamiento errático y malos resultados del primer curso, en el segundo los resultados académicos mejoraron y el uso del campus correlacionó significativamente con las calificaciones finales de la asignatura y con las notas de prácticas. Los resultados sugieren que las evaluaciones formativas desarrolladas en el aula y el grado de motivación y compromiso conseguido con la metodología invertida para las prácticas de sala han sido clave para lograr un uso útil del CV y mejorar el rendimiento académico.This study compares the use of the virtual campus performed by the students of Biomechanics, a subject of the Podiatry Degree from the Complutense University of Madrid during 2017-18 and 2019-20 academic courses, and its relationship with the academic marks. In the second academic course, teaching methodology was implemented applying formative evaluations in the classroom and flipped classroom in their clinical practices. A total of 52,779 records from the virtualized subjects stored in Moodle platform in both academic courses were extracted. The logs were debugged, anonymized and analysed with the R and SPSS v.25 programs. In contrast from the erratic behaviour and the poor results in the first course, in the second one, the academic performance improved, and the use of virtual campus significantly correlated with both the final and the practice grades. Results suggest that the formative evaluations carried out in the classroom and the attained motivation and commitment levels with the flipped classroom practices were key to achieving a better CV performance and improving the academic grades.

Experiencias y logros de los docentes en el uso del Campus Virtual de la Universidad Central de Venezuela

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de una revisión preliminar de las experiencias y logros alcanzados por los docentes integrantes del Diplomado Integral de Formación para el Docente Aletheia en su tercera cohorte (2012-2013) en lo que corresponde al uso del Campus Virtual de la Universidad Central de Venezuela. Los aportes que se exponen a continuación fueron extraídos del Foro Cierre y Evaluación de Experiencia de Aprendizaje. Previamente se hizo una revisión del concepto de ambiente virtual de aprendizaje y los elementos que lo caracterizan, seguido de la presentación de la estructura del Diplomado Aletheia diseñado con el propósito de ofrecerle al docente las herramientas tecnológicas y comunicacionales que le permitan innovar y optimizar el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje. El uso del campus virtual de la UCV representa un cambio significativo en las expectativas académicas y en la práctica docente de los profesores consultados ya que la mayoría de ellos no había tenido acceso a esta nueva modalidad de enseñanza-aprendizaje y en ese sentido señalan las grandes ventajas que ofrece, sin embargo expresan la necesidad de profundizar el estudio de las TIC. This paper shows the results of a preliminary review of the experiences and achievements reached by the aletheia’s teachers third cohort (2012- 2013) as it pertains to the use of the Virtual Campus of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). The contributions described below were extracted from the forum Closing and Evaluation of Learning Experience. Previously it was a review of the concept of virtual learning environment and the elements that characterize it, followed by the presentation of the structure of the Graduate Aletheia designed with the purpose of providing teachers communication technology tools that allow them to innovate and optimize the process teaching and learning. The use of the Virtual Campus of the UCV represents a significant shift in academic expectations and in the teaching practice of teachers viewed as most of them had not had access to this new way of teaching and learning and in that sense the big point advantages, however expressed the need for further study of TIC’s.