The purpose of this article is to show teachers that field trips don't necessarily have to take place away from school. Students have the ability to visit faraway places or talk to an expert from across the country. This article gave suggestions for teacher to easily do VFT's (virtual field trips) by giving resources and suggesting teacher to look for video conferencing technology at their schools.
I believe that VFT's would be a very useful activity in a classroom. If I were teaching in a High School math class, I would use it to bring in a mathematician or someone in a math related field to talk about the application of a specific topic or to discuss a math related career. It would offer a break in normal classroom activities and would allow for more interaction and interest with the subject.
Overall, VFT's are a way to make a subject more interesting and is easier than a traditional field trip. Students have the opportunity to go to faraway places like museums, historical places or even organizations. These VFT's can take the form of videos, pictures, or podcasts that are not in real-time, or could be interactive real-time video conferences. Students are able to go and experience things that they might have never thought possible, which makes learning for them a lot more fun.
The following are the NETS standards for grades 9-12 that apply to VFT's:
#3: This standard discusses the use of digital tools and resources. This could be shown if, for the VFT, you needed specific video conferencing equipment for an interactive video conference.
#5: Depending on the typ of VFT, there might be a complex global issue presented, and the purpose of the VFT would be to look deeper in the issue and offer solutions to solve it.
#6: If using special video conferencing technology, students could understand its capabilities and limitations.
I would also assume that cost is a driving factor to having VFTs. Even taking into consideration the cost of technology, through subscriptions or hardware, this must still be a fiscal safe bet.
ReplyDeleteMy children, (1st grade and kinder), just went on a field trip to a local organic farm. It cost $65 per child, of which the school paid for $50. If you do the math, that works out to about $2,500 not including the parental expense. This is for a onetime field trip.
However I could also see where an argument could be made that says that unless you get the children out of the classroom, they are not going to learn the social dynamics of being in large groups, working with other children out of the classroom, and just behaving in general. These are all skill that are gained from field trips and although not quantifiable, still just as valuable.
VFT's are a fantastic money saver (usually) and a wonderful way of incorporating field trips if the school or district that you work for doesn't have the means of providing actual physical field trips.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if at all possible including just taking students outside to the school playground, all attempts should be made to bring children out into the real world for experiences. Childhood obesity and various other health factors are already a problem due to overuse of video games and various other technological devices.
Thus, I find it imperative to utilize both VFT's and Physical Field Trips regardless of expenditures or easy access. The students need to be creative, so as instructors we should be striving to creatively find ways to bring them into the real world without looking at a computer monitor.