Remote learning became an essential tool for education during the pandemic. It allowed knowledge to be disseminated without being physically present in a classroom, allowing social distances between people to prevent the spread of diseases. This phenomenon adversely impacted how archaeology was taught and archaeological information was disseminated to the masses. Before the pandemic, educators could organize fieldtrips and in-person workshops to enable participants to interact intimately with the archaeological materials or sites. However, it was a challenge to communicate these practical elements of archaeology remotely. They must be significantly modified to ensure the participants can understand and appreciate the discipline similarly. Incidentally, such difficulties have also plagued archaeologists even before the pandemic. Some sites and materials are out of reach from the masses due to their location and the prolonged artifact post-excavation process. Often, archaeologists rely heavily on various technologies such as Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), 3D modeling and Geophysics to create a virtual environment suitable for research and public outreach. Therefore, this chapter examines the challenges encountered when disseminating archaeological information to the masses remotely and highlights various case studies about using technology to relate archaeological information to the public. These case studies were derived from pre-pandemic archaeology approaches to pandemic period educational practices. By examining these case studies, it is hoped that a plausible direction may be provided to connect people with archaeology in a virtual environment.

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Creating a Virtual Environment to Learn About Archaeology

  • Michael Jian Cheng Ng

摘要

Remote learning became an essential tool for education during the pandemic. It allowed knowledge to be disseminated without being physically present in a classroom, allowing social distances between people to prevent the spread of diseases. This phenomenon adversely impacted how archaeology was taught and archaeological information was disseminated to the masses. Before the pandemic, educators could organize fieldtrips and in-person workshops to enable participants to interact intimately with the archaeological materials or sites. However, it was a challenge to communicate these practical elements of archaeology remotely. They must be significantly modified to ensure the participants can understand and appreciate the discipline similarly. Incidentally, such difficulties have also plagued archaeologists even before the pandemic. Some sites and materials are out of reach from the masses due to their location and the prolonged artifact post-excavation process. Often, archaeologists rely heavily on various technologies such as Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), 3D modeling and Geophysics to create a virtual environment suitable for research and public outreach. Therefore, this chapter examines the challenges encountered when disseminating archaeological information to the masses remotely and highlights various case studies about using technology to relate archaeological information to the public. These case studies were derived from pre-pandemic archaeology approaches to pandemic period educational practices. By examining these case studies, it is hoped that a plausible direction may be provided to connect people with archaeology in a virtual environment.