iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

“Mrs. Tucker, why don’t we go on more field trips?” Every year students ask me this question. There are a couple of answers.

Field trips are time-consuming to organize and plan.
There aren’t always resources (e.g., buses) available to make a field trip happen.

We are limited by our geographic location to the sights/museums within driving distance.

In an effort to expose my students to more experiences, I’ve embraced virtual tours and field trips. In a recent training, I shared “15 Virtual Field Trips for Kids of All Ages,” which has a fantastic collection of virtual field trips, and asked teachers to explore these virtual tours and brainstorm how they could use these online experiences to enhance their curriculum. One teacher asked, “How can you make sure students are paying attention and really learning something from these tours?” I explained that my favorite strategy was to pair a virtual field trip with a scavenger hunt."

Virtual reality field trips, like Google Expeditions, have transformed how we see the world. Students can visit far flung places, explore how our body works, be transported into the past, and even travel through space using affordable virtual reality apps and headsets. Starting with no more than a piece of cardboard and a phone or tablet, any student can now experience amazing virtual field trips in the classroom or home. Virtual reality headsets like the Samsung Gear VR, Oculus RIFT and HTC Vive also offer a more detailed experience. Liven up your classroom or playtime, and get students excited about learning geography, history, and science with virtual reality.

Here are 6 of the newest and more popular apps for taking kids on virtual field trips.

Virtual field trips instantly connect students with learning opportunities they may not get to experience otherwise. And it all happens from the comfort of your classroom computer. Take kids on a unique adventure in just a few clicks with these top virtual field trips for kids of all ages.