VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS
An in-class experience to an out of this world place- Dr. Drizzle 9-14-2012
As we look to encourage students to explore their passions, we must provide opportunities to pursue them.
"Think" through your curriculum, and make a list of those hard-to-teach topics. There are many opportunities out there for virtual field trips.
Virtual field trips are NOT new. My first one was 20 years ago when I took twenty-four kindergartners to China. It began with an itinerary and a dream. My students were asked to bring a packed suitcase to school. As they stood outside the classroom door, they received airline tickets and passports. When they walked into the room- they were immediately transported to the inside of a plane. 24 chairs were aligned as airplane seats. These included chair pockets which contained a magazine and safety instructions, a jumprope for a seatbelt, and their own barf bag. After students were seated and given the instructions for the flight, they were served a bag of peanuts and a glass of juice. They watched an in-flight movie on China. I had rigged up curtains around the plane using fishing line, pool noodles, and shower curtains. The shower curtains had the inside of a plane drawn on them so students could look out the windows at clouds. When we landed, the curtains were pulled and magically we were in China. Students were simply amazed when they saw the room. When I went to the college graduations of these students, they told me that those trips were days that they would always remember.
Now with the ease of technology and the world being closer than ever- virtual field trips just make sense.
Please feel free to use, reuse, or create your own ways to inspire your teachers and students. It takes all of us to prepare our students for the future. The outline of VFTs will look different for you. Here is what works for us.
Our Levels of VFT's
Level 1- Sit and Get Trips
Level 2- Interactive Trips
Level 3- Shock Value Trips
Take a look at where we have visited and then we will discuss process:
PAST Durham Public Schools' VFTs.
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
Sit down as a teacher, a team, or a school and plan out your virtual field trips. Start with your standards and then build from there.
Example from a 2nd grade classroom
In North Carolina, we study sound, matter, life cycles, and weather in science. We meet as a grade level PLC and discuss the upcoming standards- teachers throw out ideas on where they would "virtually" like to go. We discuss each suggestion, make a list of pros and cons, tie it to the standards, and then we work on making connections. After connections are made, we then decide if it is a Level 1, 2, or 3 VFT- If it is a Level 2, teachers volunteer to write lesson plans to accompany the event.
Life Cycle VFTs
MAKING CONNECTIONS
AFTER EVENT
ARTIFACTS
Students document their travels in different ways.
HOW TO GET STARTED!
This portion of an article by Prof. Jim Lengel, Boston University College of Communication has inspired my classrooms in Durham, North Carolina.
Prepare the Trip
A virtual field trip requires at least as much preparation and planning as any other trip. Simply sending students off on a bus or a web browser is not enough. Here are some steps to take to make the trip work well:
Individual, Small Group, or Whole Class?
Even the one-computer classroom can host a virtual field trip. The whole class might take the trip together, as you lead them along the path and pose the appropriate question as they class views the objects on the display. You might assign one question each to several small groups, and let each take its turn at the computer to follow the path and answer the questions. You might let each student on his own take the trip, do the work, and then discuss the results with the entire class at the end. Mix your methods and groupings to match your students' needs and work styles, and to optimize your technology facilities.
An in-class experience to an out of this world place- Dr. Drizzle 9-14-2012
As we look to encourage students to explore their passions, we must provide opportunities to pursue them.
"Think" through your curriculum, and make a list of those hard-to-teach topics. There are many opportunities out there for virtual field trips.
Virtual field trips are NOT new. My first one was 20 years ago when I took twenty-four kindergartners to China. It began with an itinerary and a dream. My students were asked to bring a packed suitcase to school. As they stood outside the classroom door, they received airline tickets and passports. When they walked into the room- they were immediately transported to the inside of a plane. 24 chairs were aligned as airplane seats. These included chair pockets which contained a magazine and safety instructions, a jumprope for a seatbelt, and their own barf bag. After students were seated and given the instructions for the flight, they were served a bag of peanuts and a glass of juice. They watched an in-flight movie on China. I had rigged up curtains around the plane using fishing line, pool noodles, and shower curtains. The shower curtains had the inside of a plane drawn on them so students could look out the windows at clouds. When we landed, the curtains were pulled and magically we were in China. Students were simply amazed when they saw the room. When I went to the college graduations of these students, they told me that those trips were days that they would always remember.
Now with the ease of technology and the world being closer than ever- virtual field trips just make sense.
- They are free!
- They are equitable!
- They surpass poverty lines!
- They are inspiring!
- They are memorable.
Please feel free to use, reuse, or create your own ways to inspire your teachers and students. It takes all of us to prepare our students for the future. The outline of VFTs will look different for you. Here is what works for us.
Our Levels of VFT's
Level 1- Sit and Get Trips
- Skypes or Google Hangouts that involve an interview or presentation from an outside guest. Students sit and listen to an author or expert in the field. They may or may not ask questions. Usually lasts around 25 minutes and involves little planning on the teacher's part, except for the initial invitation.
Level 2- Interactive Trips
- Involves a plan. Students will participate in the VFT through hands-on activities and/or active questioning. Example- 5th graders are studying force and motion in their science class. Teacher collects materials to build pool noodle roller coasters. The Skype or GHO involves an engineer at an amusement park. After the engineer speaks to the class- he or she encourages them to use the materials at their tables to build a roller coaster with 3 elements. As they are building, the speaker is giving advice and showing them around the roller coasters on site. The engineer concludes the VFT by taking the students on a roller coaster ride.. Students are usually given instruction before, during, and after a level 2 trip.
Level 3- Shock Value Trips
- This trip will be an entertainer, STEM specialist, actor, musician, sports star, etc. who will encourage the students in a VFT presentation. Normally, these happen once a year in each grade level. Past guests have included Kid President, Discovery Channel Stars, sports figures, and HUGELY popular musicians.
Take a look at where we have visited and then we will discuss process:
PAST Durham Public Schools' VFTs.
- Mayo Clinic
- Maui Volcanoes
- Smithsonian (Air and Space, History, and Science Museums)
- Space Station
- Goddard NASA
- Mythbusters Headquarters
- Chobani
- Chicago's Wrigley Field
- John Hopkins
- Duke University Bio-Lab
- Sea World
- San Diego Zoo
- Carolina Panthers Stadium
- Grand Canyon
- Grand Tetons
- Yellowstone National Park
- Carlos Bakery- Cake Boss
- Storm Chasers-Reed Timmer
- Weather Channel- Mark Elliot
- NOAA
- North Carolina Museum of Science- Raleigh
- North Carolina Museum of History- Raleigh
- Colonial Wiliamsburg
- Yankee Stadium
- NASCAR
- The Paleontological Research Institution
- Philadelphia Art Museum
- Anne Frank's Home
- Sistine Chapel
- The Louvre
- Galapagos Island
- Ellis Island
- Antarctica Penguin Research
- Empire State Building
- John Hancock Building- Chicago
- Blackbeard's Lair
- LBJ Presidential Library
- Valley Forge National Park
- Kayleen McCabe
- Alton Brown
- Wilson Football Factory
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
Sit down as a teacher, a team, or a school and plan out your virtual field trips. Start with your standards and then build from there.
Example from a 2nd grade classroom
In North Carolina, we study sound, matter, life cycles, and weather in science. We meet as a grade level PLC and discuss the upcoming standards- teachers throw out ideas on where they would "virtually" like to go. We discuss each suggestion, make a list of pros and cons, tie it to the standards, and then we work on making connections. After connections are made, we then decide if it is a Level 1, 2, or 3 VFT- If it is a Level 2, teachers volunteer to write lesson plans to accompany the event.
Life Cycle VFTs
- NC Arboretum
- San Diego Zoo
- Galapagos Island
- NC Raptor Museum
- The Angel Veterinarian Hospital
- Yellowstone National Park
MAKING CONNECTIONS
- Search websites for contact information.
- Use Social Media to ask for ideas and volunteers.
- Friends of Friends
- Students' parents
- Chamber of Commerce
AFTER EVENT
- Over thank your guests. You want to keep them happy so you can use them again.
- Send student thank you notes.
- Thank them using social media.
ARTIFACTS
Students document their travels in different ways.
- Hard copy scrapbooks
- Blogs
- Digital scrapbooks
- Journals
- iMovie or MovieMaker travelogues
- Tweets
- Newspapers
- District TripAdvisor (Design your own site)
- VFT Website
- Reporters
- Padlet
HOW TO GET STARTED!
- Use what is already out there. Discovery Education has great VFTs coming up and already archived. Leave it to the experts to get the ball rolling. You do NOT have to have a subscription to be a part of this. http://www.discoveryeducation.com/Events/
- Use what is out there and throw in a few of your own.
- Just go out there and create your own itinerary. The world is yours to explore.
- Don't pay for anything! Begging is a lost art.
- Document where you go.
- Tweet it out!
- Sharing is what we all do best.
This portion of an article by Prof. Jim Lengel, Boston University College of Communication has inspired my classrooms in Durham, North Carolina.
Prepare the Trip
A virtual field trip requires at least as much preparation and planning as any other trip. Simply sending students off on a bus or a web browser is not enough. Here are some steps to take to make the trip work well:
- Purpose. Make it clear to the students exactly why they are taking this trip. Explain in writing the purpose of the trip: "The purpose of the Lewis and Clark virtual field trip is to understand the varied geographies and cultures encountered by the explorers, through images, original sources, music, and art."
- Provocation. Challenge the students with a problem to solve or an assignment to complete while they are on the trip. Make it as clear and as concrete as possible, and expect them to produce some work that they can hand in for a grade: "On the trip, find three different landscapes seen by the men. Describe each one in your own words, and provide an image to accompany your description. Explain how each of these landscapes differed from what they had seen on the east coast." This provocation gets them thinking, and provides a motivation for their journey.
- Path. Guide them as they move through the trip. Provide a clear path, with explanations, background information, and a provocative question at each step. Few students learn at their best when left to wander aimlessly through the site. Many of the virtual field trips listed at the end of this article are highly structured to provide a prepared path. Others are simply collections of resources through which you must trace a path for your students. Look through the former to get some ideas on how to guide students along.
- Pre-requisites. Before they depart on their online journey, make sure they understand the background of the event or topic they are visiting, just as you would for a physical field trip. Give them some readings, show them a film, provide a list of key questions, or have them do some preliminary research that results in their understanding where the topic of the trip fits in the larger context. Provide, in advance of the trip, a written statement of the purpose, the provocative questions, and the nature of the path they are to follow."
Individual, Small Group, or Whole Class?
Even the one-computer classroom can host a virtual field trip. The whole class might take the trip together, as you lead them along the path and pose the appropriate question as they class views the objects on the display. You might assign one question each to several small groups, and let each take its turn at the computer to follow the path and answer the questions. You might let each student on his own take the trip, do the work, and then discuss the results with the entire class at the end. Mix your methods and groupings to match your students' needs and work styles, and to optimize your technology facilities.