Zanetis, Jan. (2010). The beginner's guide to virtual field trips. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(6), 20-23.
The article discusses two different methods in provided virtual field trips for student grades K-12. The first one being asynchronous VFT’s, which are not delivered in real time. They include websites with text audio and video resources on specific topics. Some may also include streaming video and podcasts. The quality and substance of these VTFs vary and there are aggregators available to help select the more reputable sites available.
The second method is interactive VFT’s which are synchronous or real time experiences which place students in contact with informal educators in many locations. The use of video conferencing technology is what makes this so engaging. Rather than using web cams and small computer screens, the video conferencing equipment bring a real person and place into the conference. This can be an expensive method. However, approximately 30% of U.S schools have installed large group video conferencing equipment.
There are many educational site that offer interactive VFTs to school with content that can be topic specific. One example is the National Baseball Hall of Fame offering a unit called “Math: Batter Up”, a lesson in the fundamental concepts in statistics. Many interactive VFTs have a fee, but the cost in compared to real life field trips they are relatively inexpensive and they enable students to visit places that would be almost impossible to visit in person.
How would I apply this resource in my classroom?
I love the idea that I there are resources available to me that would enable to provide engaging content to my lesson plans. Visiting museums, historical places though the use of video conferencing would enrich any lesson plan. I can see visiting the Smithsonian Museums and the historical sites in New England were the revolutionary war was fought. Being able to see the actual ship used in the Boston tea party would bring that history lesson to life!
How will using this type of technology benefit learning experience for today student?
The idea that you could actually visit the places being discussed in a history lesson or have a tour of NASA and being taught a statistics lesson from an expert in baseball statistics, makes the world seem more tangible. Students may never be able to travel to Greece but through a VFT they could see the remnants of historical places live rather than as pictures in a text book.
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