One of the exciting opportunities that virtual schools can provide students is the ability to travel the world from their computer. Virtual field trips allow students to have access to places they may never be able to go. Whether its the White House or Egypt, student can experience the sites and sounds that have been previously out of reach.
A quick search for virtual field trips pulls up hundreds of resources in any subject area. Students can have behind the scenes access to museums or can learn the history of a specific location. Virtual field trips provide students with the information they would learn from a textbook but it also provides a feeling of exploration and visualization that is often left out of text-based learning. The virtual school can use virtual field trip resources to supplement student learning.
Below are some of the virtual field trip resources I found interesting.
http://www.theteachersguide.com/virtualtours.html
http://www.thinkport.org/Classroom/trips.tp
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/whtour/
http://www.middleschool.net/curlink/virtual.htm
http://www.techtrekers.com/virtualft.htm
http://members.ncss.org/se/6403/640305.html
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3 comments:
I love the idea of virtual field trips. To be able to 'go' to places around (or out of) the world is exciting. For instance, one of the websites gives a 'tour' of the nine, oops, I mean, eight planets of the solar system. Virtual field trips also allow students to be their own teachers by investigating and researching on their own. Even in math, I can use virtual field trips to integrate social studies, science, geography...just about anything.
I cannot think of a better place to use virtual field trips than a social studies class. Through the internet, students can visit any location in the world, and have instant access to museums, historical buildings, and other locations. Imagine learning about the Revolutionary War while visiting the exact sites where specific battles were fought, or visiting Independence Hall in Philadelphia where John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 (source-Wikipedia). World geography would be a no-brainer visiting locations all over the planet online. In the past, students were limited to textbooks, out of date videos, and other resources to view images that relate to the study of social studies. I would hope that all teachers who can would take advantage of these websites as a supplement to their existing textbooks and visuals.
I started using virtual field trips last year. Until this course I had never considered outer space virtual field trips, but the resources on the internet are incredible. I was looking through some of the sites you listed an really like the VFT for the sun from the teacher's guide. Truly a spot that can only be visited virtually!
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