SCHOOLS OPT FOR VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
By Mead Gruver
November 20, 2007
Virtual field trips are becoming more and more reliable tools of teaching in today’s classrooms. In the past, the teacher and the textbooks were the only sources of information out there for students. Now, on the other hand, with technology on the rise, students as well as teachers are constantly relying on many other sources of information to learn.
The article I read proves to us how important virtual field trips are. It discussed The Grand Teton field trip which is one of several produced by Ball State University where students can visit Carlsbad Caverns, Grand Canyon and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks. About 50,000 students nationwide tune in to each Ball State web cast, according to the university. Also, there is even a video game where students can pretend to be Grand Teton Park Ranger, and learn how to find critters and other animals.
To some of these students, that’s as close to National Parks as they are going to get. Not all students have the opportunity to go out and explore National Parks or recreational places. That’s why virtual learning is a big deal for them. Virtual field trips are on the rise, causing recreational visits to national parks to decline by more than 3 million last year compared with 2005.
Nowadays, teachers are choosing virtual field trips to save money, time and planning. With the use of virtual field trips, students can travel the world; visit a zoo or a museum, while they are hundreds of miles away sitting in their classrooms. Officials are blaming this technology for declining interest in National Parks. I think that virtual trips are a great opportunity for children to learn, instead of sitting there listening to the teacher’s lecture, or taking notes on a certain subject.
Virtual field trips are really important to the learning environment, but they should not replace the actual field trips that students need to take from time to time. Getting out of the classroom, and getting the hands-on experience, is an essential step in the learning process. Nowadays teachers are forgetting the fact that actual field trips are important too, and they are so into the fact that a virtual field trip can have the same learning outcomes. Although virtual field trips are excellent teaching tools, they should not always replace an actual field trip that students can never forget.
When a little boy takes a virtual field trip to the zoo, he can’t feel the animals near him; he can’t touch/pet anything. He will just be there, in front of his computer, hoping he could visit the zoo one day, for real, and not on a computer screen.
Don’t get me wrong, I think virtual field trips are great, and students learn a lot from them, but I also think that if there is an opportunity to visit the place, instead of the virtual field trips, that opportunity should really be taken into consideration.
I would like to find out how many virtual field trips used in the classrooms today, are replacing actual field trips. I would like to investigate teachers, asking them if they still have normal field trips occurring in their classrooms. With virtual field trips on the rise, the ability to go out and have an actual field trip is declining. I would like to know how teachers feel about that.
The original article can be found at the following link:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/CULTURE/111200022/1015
4 comments:
I agree that virtual field trips are important for the classroom, but I also see where you are coming from with replacing virtual field trips with real field trips. You are right about students needing to get out and explore and have a hands on field trip. I feel that students should still participate in these activities but virtual field trips allows students to see places that they may not get to normally see because of budget and location problems. If the budget and the schools location allow students to take an actual field trip I think they definately still should.
I'm happy to hear that virtual field trips are on the rise. I feel that they are a great learning experience for students, especially if they don't have the time or money to go on a real field trip. However, it is sad that actual field trips are declining. I'm also curious to see how many schools are taking virtual field trips rather than actual ones. I think that virtual field trips should be taken in addition to actual field trips, not as a replacement to them.
I think that you made very valid points with the introduction of these learning devices into the classroom. I think when people read these kinds of stories they focus on the good outcomes, but I liked that you incorporated the cons of such machines. In my blog I wrote that they were a great idea and now I can definitely see the negative effects. I agree with everything you have written in this article and think you did a great job of telling both sides.
Virtual field trips are great but I agree with you on the hands-on experiences that actual trips provide. If students can physically visit someplace, a teacher should opt for that instead of visiting it virtually.
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