Virtual Field Trips
The World is in Our Hands!
Who does not love a good field trip?
Field Trips Have Advantages and Disadvantages:
Advantages
- Provide learning experiences in new and exciting ways
- Reinforce what students are learning in the classroom
- Provides students with new situations
- Give teachers a point of reference when touching on specific topics
Disadvantages
- Takes a lot of time to plan a field trip (how to get there, collecting money to get there, sending and receiving back parent-approval letters, etc.)
- Not all students can afford to go on field trips
- Teachers have to plan lesson and activities for students that are not able to go on the field trips
So why not partake in virtual field trips?
Virtual field trips are online/digital "trips" or explorations of specific concepts being taught in the classroom.
Benefits of Virtual Field Trips:
- They are free for the most part (some costs may apply depending on the VFT)
- Less hassle in preparation
- Can take students almost ANYWHERE (places students could not go on an actual field trip)
- Allows students to make connections to what they are learning in the classroom
- Provide real-life applications to content
- Opens children's eyes to the huge world around them and exposes them to the many things the world encompasses
- The weather on the day of the field trip does not matter
- Scheduling issues are almost non-existant
- Benefits students with disabilities (move and learn at their own pace, multiple methods of instruction and learning, and accessible and safe)
- Increases achievement levels
WARNING: Always check out the VFT before integrating it into the classroom! Make sure it is appropriate for your class!
Resources on How to Integrate VFT's Into the Classroom:
- https://www.edutopia.org/blog/ipad-apps-virtual-field-trips-monica-burns -Free app ideas for virtual field trips!
- http://theteacherspassport.blogspot.com/2016/07/bring-world-into-your-classroom-with.html -Fun ways to bring the world into your classroom!
- https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/use-virtual-reality-google-expeditions-classroom/ -How to use Virtual Reality and Google Expeditions in the classroom!
Search around on Pinterest and you will find an abundant amount of resources!
How Do VFT's Work on Google Earth?
Reflection:
I have heard about virtual field trips for a while, but got a deeper look during my ECE block when I had to interview a tech-savvy teacher! The teacher I interviewed was big on virtual field trips using Google Earth. She told me how her students had been everywhere and how exciting it made the whole learning process. That interview really opened my eyes to the idea of virtual field trips and how knowledge of the world around us is as simple as downloading Google Earth or other apps that allow for VFT's. Before this presentation, I had never really looked into the challenges field trips can bring because I did not really know there were other options available to experience real-world connections to what students are learning in the classroom. I can definitely see myself using virtual field trips to enhance the content material I teach in the future. I really see myself getting involved in the virtual reality aspect of VFT's. I will use VFT's to visit whatever content material I am teaching, because, as Jessica stated, there are almost as many virtual field trips available as there are websites. I can probably find a VFT on almost anything I am searching for.
All pictures are from Google and Pinterest!
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