Communicators to hear update on use of virtual reality in communication education, Oct. 20

At the National Press Club Communicators Team's next Lunch & Learn, two educators at the University of Maryland Global Campus will discuss the integration of virtual reality into communication education.

All Club members are invited to the Monday, Oct. 20, event at 12 p.m., featuring Dr. Paula Nadler and Dr. Mitch Marovitz, who have been at the forefront of the Global Campus’ two-year experiment in virtual reality and will present their findings so far.

Register for the luncheon meeting here. There are options for in-person and virtual attendance.

What is virtual reality and why is it important for you to know how the future leaders of the communication industry may one day be educated in their profession?

Nadler, an adjunct professor, has led the way in researching how best to integrate the capabilities offered by virtual reality into the communication classroom. She will speak about her journey of investigation, providing examples, including a demonstration, of how she progressed from using VR as an enrichment device to fully integrating a speech course into a commercial third-party platform. She also will discuss the results she found it had on the students’ learning experience.

Marovitz, who is co-leader of the NPC Communicators Team, will speak about the genesis of the experiment, his experiences teaching undergraduate journalism and graduate strategic communication using VR, and give a glimpse of where the experiment is headed.

In-person participants will enjoy lunch paid per member from the Reliable Source at 12 p.m., with the program for in-person and virtual attendees beginning at 12:30 p.m.