Friday, February 17, 2012
I got a bad case of VFT
Interactive Virtual Field Trips
Hello class-
After reading Jan Zanetis' article titled "The Beginner's Guide to Interactive Field Trips" in which she expounds the virtues of virtual field trips, I immediately thought that in the future everyday at school will be a will be a day long field trip. Zanetis makes the point that in a world with limited resources for public school students the inter web offers a cheap and excited alternative. She claims that everyone loves field trips because it breaks up the monotony of the day, so why not have them more often for cheap?
There are two types of field trips. Ones that happen in real time and ones that are prerecorded and are accessed at any time you want. The drawback with the ones that are prerecorded is that there is no one standing by to answer real time questions.
I have family that live in different states and travel frequently and we often use Skype. It’s definitely made it possible to keep a real time relations going. Especially with my niece and nephew; I get to watch them grow up without jumping on a plane every week.
Basically the possibilities in the classroom, once the technology is in place, is endless. Visiting an art museum or tagging along on a space mission is all in the cards.
I believe that not only are VFTs extremely beneficial to students, they also address some if not all of ISTE NETS for students. For example NET one which is facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity. What can do this better than a VFT?! The future is the world at the students’ fingertips.
Cheers,
Andy
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Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of the everyday future of schools being virtual field trips. With schools becoming more and more technologically equipped, I would see no reason why students couldn't participate in interactive virtual field trips every day. Students involved in classrooms like this are way more likely to be engaged in the activity subsequently absorbing way more knowledge then a typical classroom lecture.
When I was a student, I went on a very limited amount of field trips. One field trip that I remember particularly well was the Museum of Tolerance. I learned a great deal of information on that tour -- the type of knowledge you do not gain from a text book. If students are able to have experiences like this everyday, it would be a huge disadvantage to them if we as educators denied them this tool.
Have a good weekend,
Vince Riedel
I'm sorry... I can't agree with you...
ReplyDeleteI think we have to find a balance between the use of technology for our benefit (or the children's benefit) and the trivialization of that use.
Vince, maybe you remember your experience at the Museum of Tolerance because you were there. It was not an audio/video presentation given to you. You walked the stairs, visited the exhibitions and maybe you met a survivor that was guiding you. All your senses were there, at that museum. But if you are seating and watching a presentation I don't know how meaningful that can be.
All this remind me an experience that we lived as a family. Three years ago we went to the Grand Canyon, my teenager daughter just wanted to be in the hotel room watching the videos about the Canyon.She didn't want to go outside to explore. That was very frustrating for me!!
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your enthusiasm regarding Zanetis' article regarding interactive, virtual field trips (VFTs). I can see your point, and share your enthusiasm regarding the possibility of interactive resources supplementing education. It does make the world seem more accessible. Children will be able to see amazing locations, have access to historical sites, and see videos of incredible people doing amazing things that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience. I also, like you, use Skype to remain in touch with family and it does help shrink the distance. And with all the money saved by VFTs, wouldn't it be great if students could take one amazing field trip per year somewhere? For example, however fun it is to see art in an e-book, the scale, craftsmanship, and magnitude of Michelangelo's David should be seen in person. I do appreciate all that is possible to be connected to online, but I also appreciate hands-on, real-life, in person connections, too. I'd love to see a balance. And, if there are no field trips, due to many reasons, then interactive ones are better than nothing!
Hi Andy, I agree with Heidy and Dawn when they talk about balancing both the usage of VFTs and real field trips. I think school districts should find a way to take field trips to the local areas, which are cheaper than for example going to Los Angeles. Just like you stated in Vince’s blog Dawn, students can relate their subject matter to local places such as San Diego Aquarium, the Zoo, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, local Missions in San Diego, Oceanside and Solana Beach, local lagoons, La Joya Play House, Sea World, San Diego Botanical Gardens, Old Town, Balboa Park, local Universities, among others. I understand that schools, however, are affected by the lack of resources for these rich experiences. I think bridging classroom content with what we have available locally give students first hand learning experiences. If resources are an issue, students should be encouraged to attend these places with their families as part of an assignment. There are ways to get funding such as fundraiser and parents can be mobilized to raise funds to send children to these valuable experiences. Carpooling can also become an option. My nephew’s school does not have the resources to help low income families with sixth grade camp this year so local non-profit organizations gave scholarships and supported this field trip. He got a scholarship that pays part of the trip and as a family we also sponsored him. I am afraid that because of the schools situation and family’s economic situations, more teachers will choose the VFTs. However, I think it is crucial that a value is placed in these types of experiences so that regardless of the situation, efforts are put together so that they can be experienced. Field trips are crucial for expanding learning and there is so much that can be done with what we have locally, it is amazing. For example if students are reading Hamlet and that is been shown in La Joya Play House students can compare and contrast Shake Spear’s play to the version they saw at the Play House or in a film. I was very fortunate to have participated in various field trips here in San Diego and Los Angeles. Many of these places I only visited through school because my parents worked long hours and six days a week. I think my educational experience would have been very different had I not taken these trips. When considering the usage of VFTs we should remember that we have different types of learners in our classrooms and that for one student the VFTs may work better than the actual field trip and vice verse.
DeleteSee you manana, Lupita