Designing and Using a Web-based Travelogue during a European Study Abroad Class

ASC Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference
University of Cincinnati - Cincinnati, Ohio
April 6 - 9, 2005


Designing and Using a Web-based Travelogue during a European Study Abroad Class

Kramer, Scott W., Ph.D. and Hein, Michael, P.E.
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama

Abstract: This paper describes the design and use of a web-based travelogue created to connect faculty, university students, alumni, parents, and friends during a 5-week study abroad class traveling through Europe. This alternative senior capstone class involves analyzing, synthesizing, and reporting on digital and non-digital information collected during the trip. The class travels to London, Rome, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Paris. There are 3 research-related events and at least 1 cultural event per city. Educational aspects of the web site are addressed such as: updating class itinerary, pictures/video of construction visits, posting background material on historical architecture, data repository of source documents, etc. Other benefits such as: creating a virtual meeting place, daily diary entry, marketing to future students, background material for alumni and parents, etc. will also be discussed.

Key Words: Study Abroad, Web-CT, Experiential Learning


Introduction

The engineering, design, and construction industry is becoming increasingly global and the role of the construction professional now includes many front-end services, which increases the required skill set of new construction graduates (Bodapati and Kay, 1998; Choudhury, 2000; Kay, 2001). Alternative contractual delivery systems, collaborative partnerships, new management initiatives, and global product markets require construction students to have a broader awareness of construction methods and architectural issues. Many academic disciplines inside and outside of construction education have successfully used study abroad programs as an effective means of broadening college students’ academic, personal, and professional views of the world (NASFA, 2003; Rebholz, 2000). Therefore, the department of Building Science at Auburn University created an experimental study abroad class for the summer of 2000. This initial class was financially supported by the Dean’s office through a grant and was composed of five graduate students and one professor. The success of this class led to the second study abroad class being offered during the summer of 2002. This second class was made up of six undergraduate students and one professor leading the class. The second class was required to break-even on costs, with program fees supporting the professor’s expenses. Building upon the experiences of the first two classes, the department of Building Science offered a third study abroad class in the summer of 2004 with plans to offer the class on an annual basis thereafter. The 2004 class consisted of 10 undergraduate students, 1 lead professor (Kramer), and 1 professor-in-training (Hein). The enthusiasm generated among faculty members and students on the heels of a very successful 2004 experience reconfirmed the department’s move to an annual study abroad course offering; the next trip is summer 2005.

Background of the Study Abroad Class
Typically, Building Science students enroll in a capstone class their last semester of their senior year as part of the required coursework. The class involves using an actual set of construction documents (plans and specifications) to create a complete estimate, bid proposal, cost loaded schedule, and project management reports. However, the study abroad experience is offered as an alternative senior capstone class to undergraduate students and involves analyzing, synthesizing, and reporting on information collected during the 5-week traveling portion of the class. After returning to Auburn, the students spend the 2^nd five weeks of the 10-week summer semester writing their research paper and defending it before a jury of Building Science faculty. The study abroad class is offered to all upper level undergraduate students and actually consists of two separate required Building Science classes. One is the alternative senior capstone class, BSCI-4980 Thesis, and the other class is BSCI-4400 Temporary Structures.

The overall goal of the 2004 class was to expose students to construction-specific materials and methods, companies, projects, practices, and professionals that they would never be exposed to otherwise. There were approximately three construction-related visits (e.g. construction projects, material suppliers, construction firms, equipment manufacturers, etc.) per city. Students visited with construction professionals and collected data from several construction firms in the Engineering New Record (ENR) top 200 international contractors (ENR, 2002). Some of the visits included: renovation of H.M. Treasury Building in London, church restoration projects in London and Rome, renovation of the U.S. embassy in Rome, a canal restoration project in Venice, concrete pump and crane manufacturers in southern Germany, the construction of a new planned city outside of Copenhagen, and a tour of Le Compagnon trade guild near Paris. In addition, students were guests of three of the top ten international construction firms in the world: Bovis Lend Lease in London, SKANSKA headquarters in Stockholm, and Bouygues headquarters near Paris.

Throughout the trip, students also were treated to tours of significant classical and contemporary works of architecture, engineering and construction. Some examples of these were:

Date	Day	City	Research Visit / Cultural Event
11-May	Tues	ATL to LGW	Flight from Atlanta to London
12-May	Wed	London	arrive in London
13-May	Thurs	London	Skanska Construction / Birmingham Hospital
14-May	Fri	London	Treasury Bldg. / Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
15-May	Sat	London	Historic Architecture: Westminster Abbey, Parliament
16-May	Sun	London	Globe Theater: Romeo & Juliet
17-May	Mon	Rome	travel day
18-May	Tues	Rome	Historic Architecture: Pantheon, Coliseum, St. Peter's
19-May	Wed	Rome	Cave Michelangelo marble quarry - Carrara, Italy
20-May	Thurs	Rome	U.S. Embassy Restoration Project
21-May	Fri	Rome	Historic Architecture: day trip to Florence
22-May	Sat	Rome	Historic Architecture
23-May	Sun	Venice	travel day
24-May	Mon	Venice	Insula - GPS mapping and restoration of canals
25-May	Tues	Venice	Historic church restoration
26-May	Wed	Munich	travel day
27-May	Thurs	Munich	BMW Academy / Putzmeister Concrete Pumps
28-May	Fri	Munich	Liebherr Tower Cranes
29-May	Sat	Munich	TBD cultural event
30-May	Sun	Prague	travel day
31-May	Mon	Prague	Czech Technical University
1-Jun	Tues	Prague	Madama Butterfly
2-Jun	Wed	Prague	Historic Architecture in the Old Town
3-Jun	Thurs	Berlin	travel day
4-Jun	Fri	Berlin	Historic Architecture: Reichstag, Brandenburg Gates, etc.
5-Jun	Sat	Berlin	Ballet at Deutsche Opera
6-Jun	Sun	Copenhagen	travel day
7-Jun	Mon	Copenhagen	Orestad Development Project
8-Jun	Tues	Copenhagen	Skanska Construction, Malmo Sweden office
9-Jun	Wed	Copenhagen	Skanska Construction, Stockholm office
10-Jun	Thurs	Paris	travel day
11-Jun	Fri	Paris	Historic Architecture: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame
12-Jun	Sat	Paris	Historic Architecture: Versailles
13-Jun	Sun	Paris	Cultural Event - Louvre and Rodin museum
14-Jun	Mon	Paris	Bouygues Construction
15-Jun	Tues	Paris	Historic Architecture visits
16-Jun	Tue	London	travel day + Lion King (pm)
17-Jun	Tues	London	FREE DAY
18-Jun	Wed	LGW to ATL	Flight from London to Atlanta

Figure 1: Student-generated Study Abroad Class Itinerary, Summer 2004


Compromise and teamwork were an important part of this planning phase, during which students became very familiar with each other’s thesis topics, and looked out for one another as they searched for sites. Site visits were selected that offered the greatest benefit to the greatest number of students. Europe is relatively small and the public transportation is fast and reliable in most places. This made it possible for the class to split up into smaller groups. For example, some students attended a construction site visit in one city while other students went on a materials supplier field trip in another city, two hours away by high-speed train.

Another part of the prep class was preparation for the cultural and historical context through selected readings. Two books assigned during spring semester 2004 were Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy, and Ross King’s Brunelleschi’s Dome. Students were tested on this material before the end of the semester.
In summary, the prep class was an extremely valuable exercise in preparing both students and faculty to gain maximum benefit from the five week tour of Europe. It also engaged students and faculty early in the travel process and built important relationships that would prove invaluable during the many adventures of the long journey abroad.


Web-based Planning Calendar

In order to facilitate trip planning among students and professors, a shared web-based calendar was created using an inexpensive commercial calendar application Calendars.Net (Calendars.net, 2004). Because the class itinerary is always changing, depending on which architect, construction firm, material supplier, or manufacturer that can meet with us, the class used the planning calendar to schedule events. In this way, students could see if there were too many events planned for a single day or if there were cities where nothing was currently scheduled. This tool also allowed students and professors to avoid planning multiple events at the same time. Calendars.net provided an inexpensive, reliable and easily accessible medium. The planning calendar can be displayed in days, weeks, or months and different colors were assigned to each student to determine who is responsible for the class event (see Figure 2). For security purposes, once the trip began access to view and edit the planning calendar was password protected.

Figure 2: Web-based planning calendar for Study Abroad Class using Calendars.net


The calendar also proved to be a great way of recording the events of the trip. Access to the web was fairly easy throughout Europe via high speed connection at cyber cafes, hotels, libraries and office computers. This made updating the calendar and checking it frequently easy. The 2005 trip faculty members have benefited tremendously from reviewing the well-documented events of the 2004 trip, still accessible on the same calendar software as the 2005 events.


Web-based Travelogue

Due to the terrorist attacks on 9-11-2001 and the later cooling of attitudes and relations between the US and Europe, family members and friends were concerned about staying in touch and tracking the groups’ travel abroad. While email is an important way of staying in touch, it does not offer a shared discussion environment that would serve as a travel log desirable for this group trip. After exploring the popular communication options of web blogs, travel blogs, newsgroups and Wikis, a WebCT™ (WebCT, 2004) site was developed instead.

Figure 3: Study Abroad Class Travelogue using Open WebCT™


There were several good reasons for selecting WebCT™. Faculty members wanted a stable and easy to use platform to record the events of the trip with minimum training time. WebCT™ is the adopted course delivery software on the Auburn campus. It is housed on a reliable server, backed up frequently and maintained in the highly secure digital environment of a major research university. This is not true of the more open, public and more vulnerable alternatives mentioned above. For the Building Science study abroad class, there was no cost since Auburn University has a site license and uses it with other university classes. The user interface is well organized and has an intuitive format, with which students and faculty are already familiar. The study abroad website was set up to be open to any user who self registers, but only the professors have access to the web page design features. The features used in this class included: trip itinerary page including a map of the trip, resources page, discussion groups, email, Temporary Structures class page, and an images database or photo library (see Figure 3). Students were encouraged to invite their friends, family members, classmates and other teachers to register for the online course and track the journey through Europe. These visitors became virtual travelers, able to interact with the group via email and discussion features of the website. Registration made site participants known to everyone, providing a desired degree of security for travelers. The environment of the WebCT™ site, compared with a blog or Wiki site provided desired degree of control over appearance and content while allowing open interaction among registered participants. The faculty member who set up the WebCT™ site was well versed in the software and was able to layout the site components in approximately ten hours, with an additional five hours of refinements as the course got under way.

Perhaps the most meaningful use of the course software was the virtual travel log created using the discussion forum in WebCT™. Students were assigned the task of posting a thoughtful and substantive reflection of some aspect of their visit to each city. They were also required to post a response to a classmate’s posting for each city. These reflections were accompanied by images uploaded and attached to the discussion posting. This would provide for an online exchange of concepts learned among faculty and students while traveling, which was shared with others back home (see figure 4). A number of registered guests frequented the site during the study abroad class, posting questions and responses to the student reflections. One such guest, the father of a study abroad student visited the site over a hundred times during the five week tour, leaving comments and questions for the group and registering a record 952 hits on the site (see Figure 4). A more passive observer was the fiancé of a student who followed the progress of her future husband on a daily basis and registering the third highest 556 hits. Students came to enjoy the reflection exercises, and the attached photos added valuable visual excitement for the participants back home. In the process of posting reflections and answers to assignments, students registered an average of 344 hits over the travel duration, ranging from a low of 162 to a high of 526 hits (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. WebCT™ Summary Access Information


While traveling in Europe the group shot thousands of images using digital cameras. The images were uploaded via USB cable from cameras, or from CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or USB storage media directly into WebCT™. These images were attached to email or became the catalyst for threaded discussions among students, parents, alumni, and friends. Each student was also able to post images and text documents used later as references for their individual research project. At the start of the trip, the Building Science department supplied five notebook computers, each shared by two students. These computers were used for storage of digital images, for composing reflection statements, and for recording travel and contact information (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. WebCT™ Discussion Forum Construction Observation


The resources page of the WebCT™ site contained helpful links to weather (10-day forecast), language translators, train schedules, currency converters, and maps (see Figure 6). Also, there was a page for the BSCI 4400-Temporary Structures class lecture information and a separate page for student grades. Since students were required to study temporary structures while on the study abroad trip, the course website provided a portable means of accessing tables, and other vital reference materials normally provided in a classroom textbook.


Figure 6: WebCT™ resources page: include links to maps, weather, currency, and city info.


Publicizing and marketing future Building Science Study Abroad classes will be made easier with the self-documenting features of the WebCT™ Travelogue. Prospective students and their parents can see photos, threaded discussions, and the itinerary of the 2004 class by viewing it as a link from the main Building Science web page at www.bsci.auburn.edu.


Suggestions for Future Programs

A great deal can be learned by faculty when developing a traveling Study Abroad capstone or thesis experience. In particular there are a plethora of valuable digital tools that can assist in trip preparation and in maximizing benefit of travel experiences. Rapid evolution of computing tools and growing ubiquity of the WWW suggest that continuous exploration with digital medium can complement and enhance student learning experiences abroad. The following are basic digital tools that warrant continuous exploration and experimentation in support of better study abroad experiences:

	St. Paul’s cathedral and the millennium bridge (London)
	Coliseum, Pantheon, and Forum (Rome)
	Brunelleschi’s dome of Santa Maria del Fiore and Ponte Vecchio (Florence)
	St. Mark’s Cathedral and the Academia bridge (Venice)
	St. Charles bridge and Hradcany Castle (Prague)
	Reichstag, Berlin Wall, and Sony Plaza (Berlin)
	Ørestad bridge, (Malmo, Sweden)
	Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, and La Defense complex (Paris)

	Department Website: A great study abroad program begins with great participants, i.e. faculty and students. To recruit exemplary participants some selling is necessary. The departmental website is a valuable component for recruiting new faculty and students into the study abroad program. The website contains a PowerPoint presentation of Study Abroad experiences from previous years, program requirements, travel itinerary, milestone dates, costs, sample projects, and contact information.
	A collaborative planning Calendar: such as Calendars.Net calendar software. This is a free web-based calendar to which an organization can subscribe for preferred high speed access. All trip planning can be done collaboratively on this calendar. A PALM module that will synchronize calendar events between Palm devices and web calendar is also available. Calendars.Net (2004)
	An interactive web based travel site: such as a web log, travel blog, wiki site, or course management site. The recording of travel experiences stimulates student reflection and provides a media-rich means of valuable communication with family, co-workers, loved ones back home and can be an excellent means of advertising the program. In addition, course management software such as WebCT™ allows for posting valuable travel and study resources, and provides a record of student engagement. It offers the security of controlled access to selected registered participants. Course management software can be an excellent planning tool for the trip and can be set up and fine-tuned during a study abroad prep course
	Portable digital devices: Digital cameras and camcorders, mini voice recorders, USB mini storage devices, portable multimedia devices such as iPods, PDA’s, ultra light computers and tablet PC’s are all convenient tools that support the electronic recording and communication of ideas and experiences when traveling abroad. These are rapidly improving in storage capacity, features, and portability.
	Cell phone: When traveling with a group in a foreign country, cell phones allow for travelers to stay in touch with each other, coordinate company visits, confirm reservations, call home, and deal with emergencies. US cell phone providers are migrating to the GSM system used in Europe. This has resulted in more seamless and affordable service for Americans who wish to carry a cell phone in Europe.
	GPS: Getting lost in a foreign country can be an exciting experience. Finding your way out again can exercise valuable skills of language, navigation, resourcefulness, and humility, and can contribute to a memorable journey. If you don’t like getting lost and found, a portable GPS may be an interesting tool for navigation abroad. Mapping software is becoming more affordable and portable.
	Web travel planning resources: Online resources are great tools for planning a study abroad trip. Here is a list of a few excellent resources:

	Rick Steve’s Europe through the Back Door - Articles on trip planning, a community of travelers, guided tours, and a travel store. (http://www.ricksteves.com/home.htm)
	Hot-Maps – Interactive searchable online maps of major European cities, e.g. London. (http://www.hot-maps.de/europe/united_kingdom/england/london/homeen.html)
	Travelocity – Airline reservations for travel abroad. Email notification of fare changes, travel specials. (http://www.travelocity.com/)
	HostelWorld – Online reservations for housing in Hostels, inexpensive hotels, apartments, and pensiones abroad. (http://www.hostelworld.com/)
	Rail Europe – Fares, schedules, online ordering of Eurail passes. (http://www.raileurope.com/us/)
	Die Bahn DB – Train timetables for travel schedules throughout Europe. (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en)