Pros And Cons Of Virtual Fieldtrips

3349 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact technology has on education

The days of arriving to school early with a sack lunch, eagerly awaiting roll call and then to board a bus and go on a fieldtrip are becoming very rare these days. Fieldtrips are becoming too expensive for schools to provide and parents do not want to dish out loads of money for something that could potentially be taught in a classroom for free. In all age groups fieldtrips are slipping into a memory. Yet, a new way to take fieldtrips has emerged and is growing in popularity: Virtual fieldtrips. A virtual field trip is “a guided and narrated tour of website(s) that have been selected by an educator… and arranged in a “thread” that students can follow from site to site with just a click of a button” (Tramline, 2007, p.1). Virtual fieldtrips …show more content…

A website that is a good option and does this quite well is Nature Valley Trail View (2013). This site gives the options of detailed explorations of four of the country’s national parks: Sequoia National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Smoky Mountains National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. One of the best features of this site that would be extremely beneficial for virtual fieldtrips is the trail tours of each of the parks. Multiple different trails can be explored in each of the parks, and have been captured in pictures taken continually as the trail is traveled. Over 400 miles of trails within these parks were photographed for this site. As the path is traveled, there are icons that can be clicked that will allow students to receive more information about preservation, maps, and even to see 360-degree panoramic video footage of noteworthy places along the …show more content…

But in contrast technology is constantly growing in our society every day. People from any age are learning to access and depend on technology on an everyday basis. Since technology is becoming more present in school districts, more teachers are willing to show students virtual tours in their classroom then taking the student on a physical fieldtrip. Studies show, that a student in junior high has the attention span that lasts from ten to fifteen minutes. Virtual fieldtrips can last on average up to an hour, so a student with the attention span of ten to fifteen minutes wont is able to focus on the fieldtrip the teacher is presenting to the

Show More
Related

  • John Taggart Clark's Abstract Inquiry and the Patrolling of Black/White Borders through Linguistic Stylization

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Learning experiences outside the classroom such as field trips, movies, etc. are also very important, not only to support the classroom learning and to provide a lively and life-referring learning experience but also to give the students a chance to communicate in an out-of-classroom-situation that is more connected to their lives than the theoretical world of the classroom.

    Read More

  • Affect of Technology on The Parks and Recreation System

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... and audio streaming technologies, children in classrooms around the world are capable of taking virtual tours of The Grand Canyon, Sequoia National Park, or Yellowstone Park just to name a few. Window Into Wonderland is an award-winning example of these electronic field trips. These specific e-trips are designed for fifth grade to eighth grade children. They are approximately an hour long and can feature famous voices to narrate as the children watch. New innovative technologies in computer science and graphics have allowed Park and Recreation Districts to high definition display images of some of the more attractive spots in the parks. Computers and the Internet have made it possible for all of these to things to come into being. I think computers have unlocked many minds about the possibilities of going to see the extensive range of parks that are in the Uni

    Read More

  • 21st Century Classrooms - Annotated Bibliography

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    This article discusses the use of the Internet in the classroom and how it can be used to personalize education. The effectiveness of the Internet in the classroom is evaluated at the Henry Hudson Regional School in Highlands, New Jersey. A faculty member at the school explains that the Internet was introduced to their classrooms to expand limited electives, advanced placement, and foreign language offerings. The use of the Internet allows small schools to provide an education that would not be economically possible without it.

    Read More

  • Using Listservs and Discussion Groups in the English Classroom

    2875 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...o, Regina F. and Alberto M. Bento. "Using the Web to extend and support classroom learning." College Student Journal 34.4 Dec. 2000: 603-8.

    Read More

  • United States Route 66

    1501 Words  | 4 Pages

    Children are naturally curious about the world around them. Once a child gains mobility it is a constant exploration to absorb all they be able to. Bringing this exploration into the classroom is the focus of this lesson. It is created to both allow for investigation and to present their discoveries to others and share what they learned on their expedition. With educational funding as it is today it is difficult to take students out of the classroom setting to explore their world so it is up to teachers to creatively find ways to incorporate the outside world into the classroom. Using technology, students’ imagination and a few objects of interest you can construct a world of discovery in your own classroom. Through this lesson I have created an excursion to travel through the United States along Route 66. Students will discover new landmarks, search through local histories and spread their imaginative wings exploring the world outside of the classroom.

    Read More

  • Technology in the Classroom

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    Our schools have progressed tremendously in the past century.In fact, in the past three decades, we have seen much progression with the use of computers in the classroom.We have gone from one room school houses with one teacher teaching many grades, to schools that may be two stories high or more with many teachers for each grade.More students are in school in today’s society than there...

    Read More

  • computers in classrooms

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    The discipline, commitment, and responsibility standards that are required for an exceptional learning experience in school systems today are very consistent with those necessary fifty years ago. For example, the tools an educator were provided then were utilized to the best of his or her ability, which can easily be comparable with the circumstances of today’s uprising culture of computers.

    Read More

  • Immigration Reflective Essay

    450 Words  | 1 Pages

    This game not only refreshes students’ minds and gets them excited, it also teaches them what immigration was like in the turn of the century. This technology benefits the students because it engages essential problem solving skills that come with mastery of this subject. These students have to truly understand the content learned in ‘Direct Instruction’ in order to do well in this interactive game. “From Ellis Island to Orchard Street,” also helps myself, as an educator, because it teaches the students what I have taught them, for a second time-which further drives home the

    Read More

  • Benefits and Implications of Technology Use in America’s Classrooms

    2347 Words  | 5 Pages

    For this reason, further advancement and integration of technology in every aspect of life is undoubtedly a critical element of the future of our society. Technologies that we; in the year 2014, cannot possibly imagine or comprehend, will be at the forefront of the next generation’s life; changing the way that they think, act, learn, and even feel. It is highly important that we take this inevitability into consideration when educating the children of today that will become the adults of tomorrow. As the world changes and job markets change, it is critical that we; as educators, teach children how to use the tools of today so that they might be better equipped to adapt to tomorrow’s technologies. Working with the technologies that have already been developed, educators are able to teach in new ways, with new tools, and students are able to begin working with computers and other devices from a young age and gain a high quality education that puts the student at the center of the learning process. Technology is now a fundamental facilitator in the learning process, and an important commodity in the field of education; enhancing learning in many ways f...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On A Virtual Field Trip

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    VFTs are free and do not require parent permission forms. VFTs also give teachers the ability to show students far away locations they may not get to experience otherwise. A teacher in Indiana could take her students on a VFT to Washington DC to tour the White House. One teacher in Indiana did just that with her first grade class. Morris (n.d) discussed a class that “during their simulated trip, they visited the Jefferson, Lincoln and Washington memorials, the White House, the Supreme Court, and the Capitol” (p. 265). A teacher in Baltimore could show her students the Amazon Rain Forest. The options are limitless and a great way to enhance the curriculum, especially in science and social studies. VFTs also provide opportunity for teachers to show students how things are made. Some places may be accessible for students to visit but are not safe to take primary students. For example, students could be learning about how dairy products are made. A visit to a dairy factory could be done virtually. The teacher can then do a follow up lesson and make butter or ice cream with students. Blachowicz and Obrochta discussed that “teachers wanted to capture some of the positive aspects of field-trip learning and integrate them with the instructional program” (p. 262). When using a virtual field trip to visit a place that is not possible to visit, teachers are given the opportunity to bring the positive and exiting components of that location to the

    Read More

  • The Impact of the Internet on Schools

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    In total the Internet has not only increased the amount of learning possibilities in the classroom but it has created infinite amounts of learning opportunities for students and teachers.

    Read More

  • Internet - Virtual Education is the Future of Learning

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    In an article taken from the Internet, "The Top Ten Unique Features and Benefits of the Virtual Classroom" explains 10 reasons why a virtual classroom would be beneficiary to a learning environment.

    Read More

  • The Impact of the Internet on Society

    1597 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through the internet, the quality and ability of the students and teachers has become much greater. One example of the use of the internet in their school was on research on Ancient Egypt. The fifth grade class was to use the in...

    Read More

  • The Importance of Informal Education

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Informal education has for a long time been considered very controversial in the education world and looked upon as just for entertainment. Informal education is commonly defined as learning that takes outside of formal school settings. Informal education can be things such as field trips to science centers, aquariums, museums, zoos, or planetariums. All of the following places are considered to be "informal settings" because they are all outside the classroom area. An educational curator at a small museum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is as much an informal educator as a director of educational programs for the Smithsonian Institution. Often informal educators are retired K-12 teachers that have received additional training and have therefore been thrust into a more prominent role to teaching the nation’s students about mathematics and science. Many people look at field trips as pointless and unbeneficial to students at any age. But many will argue that informal education is only helpful when students have prior knowledge of the subject from formal education before going out of the classroom to learn. The role of prior knowledge in learning is considered of utmost importance in designing effective educational programs. Informal education is very common with science subjects. Most students cannot understand scientific principles by reading out of a book because textbooks and paper handouts can be very dry and boring. Going on field trips to informal settings reinforces what students learn from their teachers and help them understand the topics better.

    Read More

  • Use of Technology in Education

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    As time goes by, advances in technology will provide more and more avenues for learning by way of the computer. The Internet has opened the doors of the world and unleashed limitless possibilities in research and education. It may be only a matter of time when the classroom is brought online to all children and attending a school classroom outside the home is a thing of the past. Looking back over the last 20 years, I never would have imagined that computers would come this far and impact our lives so much. Just imagine where they will be 20 years from now.

    Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of Virtual Fieldtrips

Open Document