Mr Henry Dawson
Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Housing and Risk, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Biography:
Henry has worked as a lecturer and researcher in higher education for six years and has developed particular expertise in the area of international partnerships, exchanges and the use of technology in learning. Henry's interests and research focus on risk, policy, housing, health and the use of technology in higher education. Henry teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Environmental Health, Public Health and Health, Safety and Well-being. He also sits on a range of technical bodies influencing the housing sector.

Title: Virtual student exchange and the use of VR in Syrian refugee camps
Category: Learning from a distance

Abstract:
Student field visits present a number of issues for universities. Local trips require significant staff time commitment. Trips abroad are expensive, labour intensive and have a high environmental impact.

Cardiff Metropolitan University has joined with the Modern University for Business and Science in Beirut, Lebanon and Stanford University in California to carry out a virtual student exchange. For the exchange, students from Lebanon and Wales used video conference lectures and seminar sessions to investigate the public health issues around the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East.

The learning scenario focused around a real Syrian refugee camp near Beirut. Students from Lebanon and Wales were allocated into small groups to investigate public health issues affecting the residents of the camp.

Following a study of the literature, Cardiff students designed interview protocols for the Lebanese students. These were used for a field trip by Lebanese students to the refugee camp, to gather information for their Welsh colleagues and capture VR footage of life at the camp.

VR footage collected and narrated by Lebanese students was combined with videoconference presentations, to share the findings of the Lebanese students. The VR footage was also used to raise awareness of the refugees situation with funders and other parties, utilising the unique ability of VR to capture the imagination of the viewer, making a more impactful contact with potential funders.