‘An excellent experience!’
‘Very interesting, great way to learn and discover. To be repeated!’
The feedback from Excelia’s Master in Management students, who participated in the United Nations Ecosphere Immersive Learning Experience® (ILE®) in March, speaks for itself. This ILE® focusses on exploring the ecological and social transition using water as its central theme.
The aim of such a module, which is an integral part of the Blue Education Experience, is to raise student awareness of crucial issues such as climate change and the ecological transition. The emphasis is on water-related issues, and in particular SDG 6 (CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION), SDG 14 (LIFE BELOW WATER) and SDG 15 (LIFE ON LAND), as part of the students’ Sustainable Development Goals course, led by Jean-Christophe PAUGET (French Track) and Charlotte GALLIOT (English Track).
Learn more about the Blue Education Experience
Known as Ecosphere, this experience was designed for the United Nations by PHORIA, an immersive technology studio based in Melbourne, Australia, which pioneers the use of spatial data technology. The concept of Extended Reality (XR) is in the very DNA of the company, whose expertise covers everything from 3D imaging and digital twins to Virtual and Augmented Reality.
The experience is static, in 360° mode. It begins with an on-boarding phase, during which teaching and technical instructions are outlined. Then, the learners carry out the activity: they listen to testimonials and watch some of the inhabitants of small villages affected by climate change (storms, rising sea levels, etc.) in the Fiji Islands, Yemen, and Colombia. Immersion allows them to imagine themselves in the shoes of a particular person and become part of the story that is unfolding (in fact, throughout the SDG course, students have to adopt an avatar that they choose at random). Then, individually, they have to answer an online form. Finally, in the debriefing phase, they draw parallels between this Ecosphere activity and their Climacité© or Humacité© projects, to give even more meaning to what they have experienced in both the real world and the virtual world!
