Virtual Field Trips in Education
As you think back to your education as a young child and as a teenager, you often struggle to recall the teachers’ names, the courses you took, and the assignments you created. Yet, there is one part of your education that we tend to remember, the fieldtrips.
What is it about the field trips that make them standout? It is that they are far and few between. They are escapes from the brick-and-mortar of the traditional classroom. Field trips offer students the opportunity to venture into the real-world, the ability to learn through first-hand experiences, the chance to visit exotic locations that they would not normally visit.
What is it about the field trips that make them standout? It is that they are far and few between. They are escapes from the brick-and-mortar of the traditional classroom. Field trips offer students the opportunity to venture into the real-world, the ability to learn through first-hand experiences, the chance to visit exotic locations that they would not normally visit.
My most memorable field trip was in my grade 12 year. A science field trip was organized for the senior Physics, Geography, Biology, Earth Science classes. We boarded a plane and flew to Arizona and embarked on a roadtrip to California! Along the way we visited the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas (for some physics and rollercoaster rides), Meteor Crater, and Six Flags National Theme Park (for some more physics), to name a few stops. I would not have traded this experience for any other.
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Unfortunately, I am unable to take my students on such a memorable field trip. However, with the implementation of virtual field trips into the classroom “road trips” and international travel are possible. Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) are economically feasible, are personalized, and are engaging to the learners. They offer a break in the monotony of learning here in the traditional classroom.
Virtual Field Trips are a “guided exploration through the world wide web that organizes a collection of pre-screened, thematically based web pages into a structured online learning experience. (Foley, 2003).
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