Virtual total immersion
Date of this Version
VTI utilises a combination of case-study, role playing and action research methodologies whereby the student becomes the virtual diplomat. By assuming the diplomat’s role through VTI, students are provided with opportunities to intellectually engage with a ‘real world’ issue and work towards a ‘real world’ solution. In order to achieve the above outcomes, the VTI experience relies on the investigation of a real world, complex, near-unsolvable, multi-party issue. In essence, the use of VTI ensures that students who take this diplomacy class recognise that the learning experience is not random. The class and the exercises therein, have been carefully crafted to ensure that learning pedagogies are sound for the student. The students also recognise that the class reflects a changed world for international relations and diplomacy; a world where practitioners in this field need to be equipped to deal with externalities that have hitherto not been imagined. The preparation and training of practitioners for such ‘real world’ contexts is the focus of my teaching in the International Relations and Diplomacy studies offered in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Bond University.
This document has been peer reviewed.