Virtual field trips (or VFTs) have become increasingly popular, and it’s easy to see why. Field trips offer a “welcome and exciting break from day-to-day classroom activities and a memorable, real-world experience that will solidify the curriculum” in students’ minds (Zanetis, 2010, p. 20). It is important for teachers to develop activities for their students that are “intrinsically motivating” in order to engage students so that they participate willingly in their learning (Brophy, 2010, p.152). According to Brophy, although it is possible for students to learn when they are externally motivated,“the goal of education is, from the alternative view, the development of self-regulation for learning. This is conceptualized as a movement away from heteronomy and toward autonomy in the acquisition of knowledge, away from reliance on others for the incentives to learn and toward internal satisfaction with accomplishment and the learning process itself” (2010, p. 152). Offering field trips to students can be an “‘intrinsically motivating” activity in which students both learn content and build autonomy. Unfortunately, field trips are also “expensive, complicated to organize, and draw students away from their other class responsibilities” (Reich et al., 2009, p. 90).
Fortunately, it is relatively easy to plan a virtual field trip that can offer students the same intrinsically motivating experience, or even improve upon in-person field trips. Many in-person field trips can waste precious instructional time “because teachers often use docents or staff as ‘babysitters,’ students are not well prepared for the trip and spend their time wandering around, the site is too overwhelming to process in the time available, and the field trip is viewed as an end in itself”(Stoddard, 2009, p. 3). According to Stoddard, virtual field trips can suffer the same fate if not carefully planned (2009). In this blog post, I will be discussing how teachers can create creative virtual field trips that maximize students’ learning and provide the teacher with a template in order to more easily create similar experiences in the future.
Scenario
Imagine the following scenario: A high school history teacher, located on the west coast of the United States, wants to showcase to her students new exhibits being held at two prominent New York City museums. The teacher wants her students to take a “tour” of the museums and be able to interact with the museum curators, as well as see the art work on display. Afterward, the teacher would like to choose two pieces of artwork from each exhibit and have the students participate in a group critique of the individual work of art.
In order to achieve this goal, what types of learning technologies could this teacher employ to create an engaging and informative experience for her students? Before we can assess which specific technologies should be used by this teacher, it is important to assess how the technology will be used and “what information is communicated using the technologies” (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 115). Although Simonson et al, discussed the four categories below for instruction taught exclusively online, many of these characteristics are applicable for hybrid learning as well.
Step #1: Assess Available Learning Technologies |
| When making the decision regarding which technologies to use, the teacher should determine what is accessible to her class and her students. She should also take care that the technology offers the right blend of realism and avoids abstraction: when the right technology is used “it maximizes efficiency and makes available more resources for other learning experiences” (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 116). |
Step #2: Determine the Learning Outcomes |
| Another factor in choosing the right technology is to determine the student’s learning outcomes. In this scenario, the teacher would like her students to work in groups to discuss the artwork that they see in the virtual field trip; what will the students achieve as a result of this group work? Will they have an opportunity to review the artwork on their own even after the field trip is over? Will they be measured on the effectiveness of their collaboration in the group? Will they be asked to create a project that demonstrates the thoroughness of their analysis? The answers to these questions will determine the learning outcomes the teacher hopes the students will achieve. With this determined, the teacher will be better prepared to choose the right technology. |
Steps #3: Identify Learning Experiences and Match Each to the Most Appropriate Available Technology |
| In this case, the teacher has already identified what types of learning experiences she would like her students to have. She will also need to determine how the field trip will fit into the overall unit of instruction that she is teaching–for example, are the exhibits related to a larger lesson that she has been teaching in history and social studies (i.e. viewing Egyptian artwork in an overall unit on Egyptian history). She will need to make sure that the field trip adds context and understanding to the overall unit. Simonson et al., state that the technologies that are used do not need to be complicated, instead “what is sophisticated is the design and organization of the activities and content facilitated and delivered by the media” (2012, p. 118). |
Step #4: Preparing the Learning Experiences for Delivery |
| In this section, Simonson et al., describe the ways in which the instruction can be built in an online environment. Applicable to this scenario is the way in which the teacher prepares her students for the field trip. Stoddard describes the importance of preparation for successful field trips; students should be prepared via the “use of materials from the field trip site, such as relevant primary documents or artifacts” (2009, para. 14). In addition, the teacher may also want to offer introductory materials on the basics of art and museums–what to expect, what to be looking for, what she will be evaluating them on, etc. This will also give students who are inexperienced an opportunity to obtain remediation prior to participating in the virtual field trip. |
Technology Tools
There are a wealth of technology tools available for this teacher. Since she is interested in an interactive session with the museum curator, she should first determine if her school and the museum have access to h.323 videoconferencing technology. Although some teachers may initially believe that this option is too expensive, a “2009 study by Wainhouse Research found that approximately 30% of U.S. schools have installed large large-group videoconferencing equipment” that includes the codecs necessary for the h.323 system (Zanetis, 2010, p. 21). In addition, Zanetis cites at least 300 different institutions, such as museums, historical sites, science centers, and other organizations that offer interactive virtual field trip experiences to schools (2010). This technology will allow the museum curator to showcase the exhibit to the students and also answer live questions from students via a television. If the teacher does not have access to this system, Zanetis recommends that he or she contact technology vendors, such as Polycom and Tandberg for guidance; some offer assistance in writing grants or provide ideas on organizations that may be able to provide funding (2010).
The second technology that this teacher should consider is utilizing a Course Management System, or CMS. The CMS can be beneficial for both preparatory and post-work. In the CMS, the teacher can provide the following:
1. Unit Information
Introductory information regarding the virtual field trip, including how the content relates to the overall unit of study in the class.
2. Pre-work
The CMS can link to examples of artwork that can prepare students for viewing and evaluating art during the virtual field trip. A great example can be found at the Google Art Project which includes high-quality images from some of the most famous museums. The link below takes students to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art but there are many more examples to choose from:
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/met
3. Collaborative Tools
Discussion Boards, wikis, and other tools can help students to collaborate with each other and the museum curators after the virtual field trip is over. By adding the museum curator to the CMS, the students continue to have asynchronous access to an expert who can continue to guide them throughout the unit.
4. Reference
The teacher can store images of the specific pieces that the teacher would like the students to critique later (with the museum’s permission).
There are many popular CMSs to choose from; for this specific scenario, I am partial to BlackBoard’s CourseSites. They offer up to five free online courses in a dependable and robust platform as well as a variety of course templates that would complement the virtual field trip concept. Teachers who are up to the challenge of planning a virtual field trip may not mind the extra time that is needed to build an uncomplicated online classroom that can accompany the students along their trip.
Conclusion
Virtual field trips offer students an opportunity to participate in an authentic learning environment, albeit at a distance. They offer students an opportunity to participate in “experiential learning;” the process by which a learner internalizes their experiences to create knowledge (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2012). Through the vehicle of the virtual field trip, students undergo at least 3 of the 4 states of experiential learning, including participating in a concrete experience and undergoing reflective observation and abstract experimentation (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2012). The last state, active experimentation, can also be achieved later in the teacher’s instructional unit as she continues to build upon the foundation laid by the virtual field trip.
In conclusion, virtual field trips do not need to use complicated technology in order to be done right. With careful planning, simple technologies such as a video camera and a telephone can be suitable if more sophisticated options cannot be found. In addition, many websites offer great “canned” materials that teachers can use to create virtual field trips, although they may lack the authenticity that other options provide. Lastly, teachers who are interested in virtual field trips may need to take more time in the initial planning stages, however once one or two VFTs have been completed, subsequent ones will be more easily planned and executed. Teachers who offer these opportunities to their students can reap the benefits later with students who have become more intrinsically motivated and ready to pursue new studies more enthusiastically.
References
Brophy, J. (2010). Motivating Students to Learning (3rd Ed.). Florence, KY: Routledge. Retrieved from Walden Library (eBrary).
Reich, J., Daccord, T., November, A. (2008). Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Stoddard, J. (2009). Toward a virtual field trip model for the social studies. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(4). Retrieved fromhttp://www.citejournal.org/vol9/iss4/socialstudies/article1.cfm
Zanetis, J. (2010). The Beginner’s Guide to Interactive Virtual Field Trips. Learning & Leading With Technology, 37(6), 20-23.
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