Since many of our students are limited to their exposure and experiences of the outside world, what are some virtual field trip websites you have used for the classroom?
For ideas for virtual field trips and webquests, I like:
http://www.techtrekers.com/virtualft.htm
for a wide variety of virtual tours and webquests.
Also, you can go to specific sites- many have virtual tours and webcams, like large art museums, Yellowstone National Park, the White House, and NASA.
Google Earth for Educators, http://sitescontent.google.com/google-earth-for-educators/ is fantastic. There are lots of ways to use it, and lots of connected lesson plans and tools like Google Maps. [Google for Educators has lots of info about a variety of Google apps.]
Homeschooling sites also have lots of good ideas
Thanks for sharing! I just took a trip to the ocean and I loved it! I'm certain that our students will enjoy visiting places that are far from their homes. I'll be sharing these links with the rest of the teachers at our school.
Mary,
Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to share this information with my school!
I have used the website provided by HM to accompany the reading series (www.eduplace.com/kids). For example, the 5th grade series Theme 3 is titled Voices of the Revolution. Students can go onto the website and take a web field trip. It has several sections about colonial life. Students read about different aspects of culture - home, clothing, transportation, school, etc. There are also activities that students can complete and min-videos of children portraying colonial children.
Another place you can look into is called TrackStar. It is an entire website devoted to using and creating webquests. http://trackstar.4teachers.org
The National Park Service also has some virtual tours...I am using the virtual tour of Fort Clatsop during my study on Lewis and Clark. A great resource to help find virtual tours and other resources for your specific lessons are the district technology coaches...they are great to help hunt down resources which can kind of be time consuming.
Here's the link to the National Park Service. They also have great podcasts.
Another one we're using right now for 4th grade science-Changing Earth- is located in your school library catalogs in Webpath Express: It's a National Geographic site. pbs.org also has great trips for 5th grade Models and Designs.
This is a fun topic, and I wholeheartedly agree with the original post that many of our students haven't had the opportunity to experience much away from Tucson or areas nearby. Virtual tours are an aspect of 1 to 1 that I haven't hit yet, but I'm excited to dive in and I know my students will be thrilled. Thanks to those who have posted on this topic for giving me some ideas on where to find relevant virtual tours online. I really like how one teacher was able to find a specific tour that connected with her study of Lewis and Clark.
I was also thinking that it would be neat if there was a way for district teachers to load videos (webcasts?) on a shared website that we can all access and potentially allow access for our students to view. Clearly this would mean that each school would need access to some sort of video recording device, but that seems feasible either now or very soon. It would be fun to view a 5th-grade trip that another school took to the Grand Canyon, just one example. I guess the raw footage might not be super efficient, so take it a step further... once students become more proficient with Windows Movie Maker, possibly finished projects created by students could be posted for other schools/students to view and learn from. Just some thoughts.
Andy, I love this idea! We could start putting up video clips, PowerPoints. Prezis, etc. that other teachers could borrow, the way some folks now post field trip pictures for parents, etc. Classes could start communicating, sending tips before visiting a site (real or virtual) for things to look for, and sharing afterwards.
Having our own district site for resources is an excellent idea. Most of us don't have hours of spare time to just sit and surf looking to see what's out there. I've tried a virtual tour twice and have not been successful. Once wa because the district filters shut me out and another time because the laptop I was using coulding buffer the website and show it. I gave up on that, but with newer computers, greater broadband width, etc., I'm willing to try again.
In response to your thoughts on online video....we all have access to Discovery Education Streaming via IDEAL (ADE). I don't think we are using this fabulous resource anywhere near the potential. Perhaps a PD session on the wonders of IDEAL would be a great way to get the word out.
Mary - will virtual field trips be included in the summer tech training calendar? If yes, I'm interested.
I am also fascinated by this topic although I have not used it often. One source I found is through our World Book online subscription which is available to students at home and at school and can be found on the school libraries websites or just by going to worldbookonline.com. We have a district user name of susd12 and district password of learn.If you search for a topic and click media you can find short video clips with narration. I looked at "Grand Canyon" and "Colorado River" since some of our students have never been there.
Another source is through the Ideal website and Thinkfinity. You can search for virtual field trip and find a list of those avaiable, or search through by your lesson topic.
This is a great area to explore and can really make lessons come alive. Students can also use them in their own productions.
I am excited to find more of these!
I have just begun to delve into the endless possibilites of virtual field trips, and continue to explore the possibilities. Thank you for all of the suggestions.
My students have brainstormed possible ideas for virtual fieldtrips. I am looking forward to having a chance to explore sites and learning how to conduct a good virtual fieldtrip.
Janis, thanks for the worldbookonline info.
I saw an excellent presentation on virtual field trips at the technology convention in Denver and I think it would be a key for SUSD to purchase some of these. I saw one program where you could perform a virtual dissection of a frog- it was impressive.
I am excited to try some virtual field trips with my class. I believe that my students would benefit greatly from "visiting" places and venues that are not in the realm of their personal experience. We read a comprehension piece on Tasmanian Devils in reading class a couple of weeks ago and went to a site from the park service in Tasmania that had great video of the habitat and included audio of the sounds made by the animals. It was not a specific virtual field trip, but worked just as well. Many of my students went on to research Tasmania and other animals living there. It was a bit of time away from actual comprehension instruction, but sometimes the key to comprehension is interest and a way to connect the text to self. Virtual field trips seem to fill that need in a great way.
I am so thankful to hear about so many sites and possiblities for the virtual field trips--the possibilities seem endless, indeed. I feel that the students of my self-contained room will certainly appreciate getting "out" and exploring the world around them. I agree with Stephanie, in that the virtual field trips are a break from the comprehension studies and learning, and that they are sometimes the refresher that is needed to re-spark the interest in learning.
i have used the simthsonian virtual field trip. It was difficult trying to move around but it was neat when I finally figured it out. Thank you for the others links that everyone is using I will have to try them out and see if they fit into my program.
Go to The Apple - Where Teachers Meet and Learn site. They have listed the 5 Best Virtual Field Trips with a short description and their appropriate links.
Virtual Field Trip #1: Smithsonian Museum; #2: UPM Forest Life; #3: Moon in Google Earth; #4: Planet in Action; #5: AR Sights
http://theapple.monster.com/education/articles/8847-5-best-virtual-field-trips
Great topic! I'm so excited to learn more about virtual field trips, so that our students have an opportunity to broaden their experiences. We are a Phase II school, and have only had laptops for a few weeks, but already are discovering some great exploration websites! For instance, we recently read an article about volcanoes in Super Science magazine, and the students were able to go online and take a tour of the inside of a volcano. They then were able to create a volcano of their own, and make it erupt. I used the following link to get there:
http://kids.discovery.com/games/pompeii/pompeii.html
Another good website I've used:
teacher.scholastic.com/activities/explorations
I can't wait to check out all these sites that everyone shared! What an experience for myself let alone our students! ;)
I wonder if it'd be possible for the district to add a link to their homepage that would list a multitude of virtual fieldtrips....just a thought.
Thanks for sharing everyone!
Here is a resource from a blog I found on Virtual Field Trips http://askatechteacher.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/10-great-virtual-field-trips/
The possibilities are endless and I'll be the first to admit I hadn't even thought of virtual field trips before this. I'm anxious to check out the many recommendations and would love to hear more about some "can't miss" field trips... another thing for us to share with each other!
Thank you to everyone who posted virtual fieldtrip links. I look forward to going on virtual fieldtrips with my students.I am glad this was discussed because I was not sure how to do virtual fieldtrips, but now that I have some good resources I will have to use them. With the lack of funding virtual fieldtrips may be more of a cost effective option. It is more interactive than reading a book or a magazine, but still does not compare to the experience of actually being there.
There are so many places that can be used for virutal field trips. How about taking a tour of the Louvre (not like being there but the next best thing) or the National Gallery of art or the Smithsonian. Lots of the public and private museums offer virtual field trips from their websites all you have to do is click and watch and experience. Students could even decide on what interests them and find a virtual field trip to go along with that interest and then present it to the class in writing or through technology.
When I was teaching art, we would use our smart board and projector to access virtual field trips to art museums all around the world. It was a wonderful experience for students to step outside our four walls and see amazing pieces of artwork.
******Reminder - please review the artwork in the virtual tours to avoid pieces that could create a huge diversion.*******
Many times i google the place we are discussing and within minutes can find a good source that will give us a clearer image and understaning of the place. I also always take pictures of places that i go and share them students. This website offers a limited amount of places to visit and could be of some use. http://www.field-guides.com
Another thing you can often find online live streaming feeds to certain places like zoos that can give a different experience than a virtual tour. When I taught an ecosystems unit we had to write down interactions in an acquatic environment. I ofund an online stream and the kids could not believe it was a live video stream until someone walked in front of the camera. They liked that just as much as the real fish tank with fish in the room.
We recently read a story about a boy who was sent from his home in order to protect him from the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918. We viewed a YouTube collage of the conditions in America at the time. A wonderful way to build background knowledge and gave the students a greater understanding about why his parents would make such a decision.
Great information. During SFA starting Monday, my class will be reading The Cay by Theodore Taylor. It takes in Curacoa, an island north South America. I found a great website that takes you on a virtual tour of the island. Can't wait to start this book with my students, your great ideas will help me give my students build some background.
Virtual field trips is an exciting idea that I would like to explore. The students in our schools have a wide range of experience and resources that would make a virtual field trip ideal. The ideas posted are great and I hope to get one put together this school year. I think this is a great way to build background for students and expose them to places they would not be able to visit. Virtual field trips are also an ideal way to save the district money. The field trips do not require transportation which alone is cost effective. I am curious for those who have done a virtual field trip if the students individually take a tour or if it is done whole class. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences and hope to have some to share soon.
When I began to read this study and saw virtual field trips I was amazed and ready to use our netbooks to go on any website that provides it. I am thankful for all the websites provided in this forum and I see a way to integrate science and social studies as well as every core subject because we would not need more resources or depend on our FOSS kits.
WOW, never knew there were so many sites to provide our students with a wonderful experience; one they may have never had the opportunity to visit. Though I do not teach students any longer, just by reading these postings makes me want to go on a virtual tour. I will definitely share these sites with teachers in my building.
Virtual field trips are sadly wonderful. It's unfortunate that in this era of cutbacks, students have fewer opportunities to go out into their own community for educational field trips. However, virtual field trips can not only fill this void but also take them places around the world.
Virtual field trips are sadly wonderful. It's unfortunate that in this era of cutbacks, students have fewer opportunities to go out into their own community for educational field trips. However, virtual field trips can not only fill this void but also take them places around the world.