Grasping Immersive Learning

When I was asked to write what my experience of immersive learning was like so far, I started with a simile. Most learning I have done is like being on a cruise boat with binoculars. You can see the glaciers and whales from a distance as a person drones on from the speakers about the cold hard facts. Immersive learning is like scuba diving. I’ve never done it, but it’s a lot more dangerous than being on the deck of a boat and you have a lot more responsibility.

So I’m a little out of my comfort zone carrying ominous anxieties. The “what ifs” are a bit heavy on my mind. What if I don’t make my mark on the project? What if I can't keep a balance of my on deck activities and my scuba diving adventures?

At the beginning the VBC was more like snorkeling than scuba diving. As a class we were peering at the project we were going to submerge ourselves in and learning new skills like interviewing and different types of narratives for documentaries. We were researching the history of Burris, the history of volleyball, and Title IX. Now we are working on taking our knowledge and transforming it into a tangible object. We are beginning to scuba dive and I have a feeling it’s going to be a whale of a time.