Interview to Vanessa Vigano, University of Montpellier

How have you been involved in the use of a geolocalized app as an innovative pedagogical and intercultural tool in CHARM-EU Alliance?

I am an educationalist at the University of Montpellier (France) since the launch of the CHARM-EU University Alliance in 2019. I work in the IT department and I’ve been involved with IT pedagogical aspects since the beginning of the project. I discovered the Peek app during a previous work package in which we were looking for new tools to somehow better enhance the teaching and learning experience in CHARM-EU.

In a few words, can you explain us what this geolocalized app is all about?

The Peek app is an interactive tool that allows you to create a geolocalized excursion wherever you want. First, students download the app on their smartphone. Once they have connected to it, a map of their surroundings is displayed on their smartphone, similar to apps like Google Maps. On this specific map, placeholders are positioned here and there. Then, they must walk around to physically reach those spots. Once they have reached them, some questions pop out in the app. They need to answer by observing what’s around them in that specific spot. This is an example of how technology is used out of-the-building. It’s also a very interesting way to use technologies in a city, a village or, of course, a natural setting.

When did you start using it with the students of CHARM-EU Master’s degree Global Challenges in Sustainability?

We started using a geolocalized app in CHARM-EU in 2023 during the MoXMo, a two-weeks mobility programme focusing on challenge-based training and environmental issues that was taking place in Balaruc-les-Bains and in Montpellier (France). That was a very interesting learning experience because students of CHARM-EU’s joint master’s degree had to spent one week around the Thau lagoon. This is why we decided to build a sustainable tour around Balaruc-les-Bains in order to help students discover their surroundings and the connections with sustainability of a place new to most of them.

During these interactive tours, students have to answer questions, but also to do activities, is that right?

The questions popping out into the app might be multiple-choice questions, measurement guess… Sometimes the answer is taking a picture. During the MoXMo, we asked students about the flora of the wetzone, an important aspect of Balaruc-les-Bains natural environment. They had to upload pictures of an example of the flora.

Is this app also something that can enhance the intercultural experience for the students?

Indeed. Talking about that specific tour we used with students during the MoXMo, in some spots of the map we asked questions about the small French villages they were in to underline the peculiar and cultural aspects of the places they were visiting. This is an example of how we use a geolocalized app for an intercultural purpose.

We did also connect distant places in this situated learning tool. For example, we made an interactive tour in Montpellier called “Montpellier sustainable city” and we made different comparisons over some specific aspects of sustainability, like the soil in Montpellier in comparison to the soil in Utrecht… Comparison is indeed another way to enhance interculturality.  

Another excursion we developed is called “Welcome to Montpellier”: it’s a welcoming excursion in Montpellier, the target being new students arriving at the University of Montpellier in order to help them discover the city centre by using the geolocalized app. We are planning to do the same in all CHARM-EU cities: Barcelona, Utrecht, Turku…

How intercultural skills are being developed by using it?

This is very interesting to develop key intercultural skills in general. Like I said, comparisons are very enlightening for this purpose, to explore specific aspects, explain and understand differences and similarities towards between places. Concrete can cause the same damages in Utrecht and in Montpellier. It’s a way to understand differences and similarities between our cities, our countries, and our cultures.

How did you get to involve your CHARM-EU colleagues into using it?

In CHARM-EU, everyone is very much enthusiastic every time that the possibility of having a situated learning tour arises. It’s a way to promote active learning outside of the classroom. This way, you can go out. In fact, you must go out to do the hunt around the city. For sure, this is a very good reason for every educationalist to be interested into adopting the app.

It can also be used as part of a team building. In Montpellier, it has been used by the JVAO (Joint Virtual Administrative Office) and the project managers as a team building experience around the city of Montpellier, which was a very funny experiment.

Pedagogically, the geolocalized app offers you an opportunity to use a technology out of the building. It is also a good way to do active learning by observing and to help better explain the concepts that relies behind some very specific “in the field” aspect.

For how long have you used it?

The first excursion we developed was for the MoXMo two years ago, so far for CHARM-EU, we have already developed four different apps that we are regularly using. At the University of Montpellier, we have been developing two more interactive excursions.

What is the students’ feedback about the Peek-App?

At the very end of each geolocalized excursion, we usually run a survey to get some data about the students’ appreciations. Until now, comments have all been very positive. Students love the interactive aspect of it, underlying the fact that they can discover a new place, and think about the impact of human activities or sustainability while hunting.

The team building aspect is also very much appreciated: as we usually split students into them, there is some kind of mild competition. Last, but not least, they enjoy the fact that they are stimulated to walk around while learning. This is literally an active learning, that improves greatly the learning experience. Especially as this app is very easy to use.

Do you feel that it can easily be implemented out of CHARM-EU?

CHARM-EU promotes challenge-based learning of course, situated learning and active learning in general. These are major points of the pedagogy developed into the alliance that we are trying to share in different disciplines and various aspects.

In Montpellier, we have started developing an excursion in French in order to help better understand sustainability challenges in a city like Montpellier while focusing on transdisciplinary. It’s very easy to use this kind of excursion whatever the learning path is. The only thing you need to do is to plan it. It requires an effort at the very beginning because it is important to understand how it works, how long you want the excursion to be, what is the main topic… Then, you must absolutely test it at least two or three times before delivering it, and finally, you have some sustainable content that you can reuse, improve, adjust…