Screenshot of the digital map of the Jordan Valley. Students, student assistants, teachers and the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) banded together last year to develop a digital map that enables students to explore the Jordan Valley. This teaching innovation has been nominated for the MEDEA Award, a prize for the best use of media in support of education.
Senna Tamminga of the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) contributed to the Jordan Valley Tour as a video editor. ‘We aimed to provide students with a field trip experience in an environment suited to this course. Students can navigate through the map and have a 360-degree view of their surroundings, as well as inspect relevant locations and videos in which stakeholders such as farmers and government bodies voice their views.’
Teachers and a TLC camera operator travelled to Jordan last year to shoot footage and make contact with local stakeholders, Tamminga explains. ‘The digital map was first used in this year’s edition of the course, and despite remaining in the Netherlands, the students’ feedback showed that Jordan was made very tangible through the map. They saw the surroundings and experienced how the local population handled water resources.’
The MEDEA Award shortlisted eight out of a total of 125 submitted projects. The Jordan Valley Tour is among the eight finalists. The winner will be announced during the annual Media and Learning Association conference in Leuven on 20 and 21 June.