From On-Campus to Online Instruction in Postgraduate Built Heritage Management Studies

Abstract

[EN] Fieldwork (or field-based learning), design by research, and in situ data collection are essential in researching and working with built heritage. They are a fundamental part of the academic program of the Preservation of Architectural Heritage postgraduate studies at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Due to the health emergency caused by the coronavirus Covid-19 in March 2020, on-campus teaching-learning had to switch to online mode urgently and unexpectedly. This entailed particular challenges for the Heritage Management Studio course because its practical performance is based on visiting locations and heritage assets that in themselves are objects of study. The use of the UPV teaching-learning institutional platform (PoliformaT) combined with the Microsoft Teams video conferencing application proved to be effective to address the online regular theoretical lessons; however, hands-on practical experiences were more difficult to organize. Thus, it was necessary to adapt the learning method to the context, design new alternative tasks and identify available virtual tools and means in order to organize the practical teaching and, at the same time, fit in with the quality requirements of the Master¿s program. Live streaming activities such as collaborative international engaging webinars, invited lectures and online interviews with heritage managers were conducted as a part of the instructional offer. Videos, documentaries, and virtual tours were also used as extra resources to get to know the analysed heritage sites. In addition, the teaching staff adopted several measures to alleviate the effects caused by the social distancing, by encouraging collaboration and relationships among the students through the development of teamwork, and by ensuring social virtual interaction between teachers and students to assist students in their commitments and to provide them with emotional and motivational support. This paper describes how the course was adapted and analyses the challenges and opportunities that online teaching-learning presents for the future in the specific field of Built Heritage Management. It highlights the existing shortcomings in the availability of digitized information on this topic, which made it difficult for students to conduct their research and management projects. It also discusses the opportunity provided by the situation to address new issues in Heritage Management, such as visitor safety and health in cultural tours, virtual access to heritage or strategies to reconnect heritage with the public, from which very innovative student projects emerged.