Tim Ratliff

SLM-521

Internet Course Module

June 23, 2006

 

INTERNET COURSE MODULE

 

VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS

 

OBJECTIVE 1:

 

Students will be able to evaluate existing online virtual

field trips.

 

OBJECTIVE 2:  

 

Students will be able to establish the difference between good

and bad virtual field trips.

 

INTRODUCTION: 

 

Virtual field trips are a great way for teachers to bring their students a first class education without the hassles of permission slips, luggage, travel expenses, and countless administrative approvals.  By choosing the right virtual field trip, a teacher can open the door to a whole new world for their students, whether a trip back in time or a deep sea dive, the options are limitless.

 

There are many virtual field trips on the World Wide Web and some are better than others.  Being able to distinguish which ones are a great educational supplement and which ones are more for fun or leisure will help an educator be able to choose the appropriate virtual field trip for their classroom.  

 

 

 

 

ACTIVITY 1:

 

Read the article on Virtual Field Trips, by clicking on the following link, to get an idea of what a virtual field trip is and even how to go about creating one.

 

Discover & Create Your Own Virtual Field Trips

(http://www.infotoday.com/mmschools/sep01/stevenson.htm)

 

ACTIVITY 2:

 

In this activity you are a teacher who is planning a virtual field trip for your class.  You will have to decide which virtual field trips are appropriate and educational and which ones are lacking in the educational department.  You get to take tours, view photographs, and enjoy all that virtual field trips have to offer.

 

After deciding which class you teach or plan on teaching, find a virtual field trip that will supplement your course material.  Review as many of the following links as you can to discover which virtual field trip would be the best one to take your students on.  Feel free to search out additional virtual field trip sites that you think may be useful in the classroom.

 

 

SITES:

 

Virtual Explorers – A group of educators explores the world and shares their experiences and information through technology and the internet.  This trip is focused on science and math.

(http://www.virtualexplorers.org/)

 

Oops Trip – Choose from a list of destinations covering a range of topics including art, history, geography, etc.  The site also contains activities for your students.

(http://oops.bizland.com/vtours.htm)

 

Yahoo Virtual Field Trips – Yahoo has a list of possible virtual field trips that cover a range of class subjects.  This site is a good starting point to lead into other, possibly more exciting, virtual field trips.

(http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/museums_and_exhibits)

 

Teacher’s Guide to Virtual Field Trips – A great site and starting point for finding the right virtual field trip.  This site contains a ton of links to various virtual field trips that cover a wide range of class topics.

(http://www.theteachersguide.com/virtualtours.html)

 

Destinations – Choose a region and country and embark on a journey to discover information on the many nations of the world.

(http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/)

 

Virtual Museums – Over 300 museums, exhibits, and real time journeys for you to choose from.  Most have pictures and text and a few contain sound or movie files.

(http://www.virtualfreesites.com/museums.html)

 

Virtual Field Trip Links – A rather large list of virtual field trips that cover many school topics.  This is a great starting point for finding the right virtual field trip for your classroom.

(http://training.fcps.org/tt5/edlinks/buffet.htm)

 

Home Sweet Home – Virtual field trips covering various geographical areas from the Tower of London to the Ancient Pyramids.  Great for social studies teachers!

(http://home-educate.com/fieldtrip.shtml)

 

If you have searched all of the above links and can’t seem to find what you are looking for, try a Google search or some other search engine search to find additional sites.  Try using key words in your search such as, “Virtual Field Trip” +History, Science, Math, Art, etc.

 

 

ASSIGNMENT:

 

After reading the article and browsing the various links on Virtual Field Trips, choose one that you feel represents a quality virtual field trip that you could use in your instruction and one that could use some work.  Both virtual field trips should focus around the same basic instructional topic.  Create a webpage that describes each virtual field trip and illustrates the differences, and what to look out for as an educator, between what makes one better than the other.  Focus on differences between photo quality, readability, excitement, level of student interaction, etc.

 

 

 

SUBMISSION – Post your activities as an HTML file to the McDaniel Web Server, create a link to the file on your web index page, and send your instructor an email notification containing a hot link to the assignment (not your index page) and the assignment file’s URL.  For more information on the posting process, CLICK HERE.

 

RUBRIC:

 

 

UNACCEPTABLE

DEVELOPING

ACCOMPLISHED

Adherence to

Appropriate

Theme

 

Presentation of two

Completely different

Sites with no theme.

Presentation of two

Sites that are weakly

Connected in topic and theme.

Presentation of two sites that have a strong thematic relationship.

Examples

Of

Differences

 

Less than 2 examples of differences provided with no real content.

Between 2 and 4 examples provided with weak descriptions.

5 or more examples are provided with clear descriptions.

Virtual

Field

Trip

Description

 

Brief, weak description of the field trip with no real theme mentioned.

Uninteresting, short description with a small mention of the theme.

Well developed and engaging description of the field trip and ties it into the theme.

 

ISTE STANDARDS

 

II.                 PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND EXPERIENCES

 

Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.

 

Teachers

 

A. Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.

 

C. Identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.

 

III.               TEACHING, LEARNING, AND THE CURRICULUM

 

Teachers implement curriculum plans, that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning

 

Teachers

 

A.     Facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards.

 

B.     Use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.

 

A complete list of all ISTE standards can be found at:

 

National Education Standards for Teachers

(http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_stands.html)