Virtual+Field+Trip

V" 3-5 V" 6-8 I CuLture II Time, Continuity, and Change III PeopLe, PLaces, and Environments IX GLobaLConnections As much as the adventurous educator would like to try, the world is too large to take a group of students everywhere to see everything of merit. When time and distance conspire to make the field trip within the school day impossible to manage, then, and only then, is a virtual field trip necessary. Some sites can be viewed vicariously using a computer screen; on the pseudo-field trip, students and teachers can see digital images of the site ranging from snapshots to complex 360-degree views or elaborate computer models of the site. Regardless of the media used, the virtual field trip will allow the students to get content information from the site; it will also allow the students to see views of the site, and there will be historical photographs and artwork connected with the site. The virtual field trip nearly always proceeds in a linear fashion to explore the site. If students choose to explore the virtual field trip, they may need some assignment to go with this exploration. Here is a model that could help students interact with the chosen Web site. • What is the name of this group of people mentioned on the Web site? Why do we remember them? • What point of view does this Web site communicate (e.g., celebratory, curiosity, remembrance, patriotic, patronizing)? • What else was happening in the world when the events of this Web site occurred? Find this group on the globe, and determine how far students are from the site. • Evaluate the ideas that are presented. Are they good for society? Are they sustainable? How does this Web site connect students to other people in other places in time? What is a common theme between students and this group (such as equality, freedom, justice, liberty, literacy, oppression, or poverty)? • Does this Web site highlight any controversial issues? What are the two or more sides that this site explores? With which side do students more nearly agree? Why? ApPLICATIONS AND IDEAS One class decided to examine a common theme, "Pyramids Around the World," by going to Web sites anywhere in the world where they could find information. They started in Egypt, of course (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid), but they also moved Mrica, Iraq in Asia, (http://www.mesopotamia.co. uk/ziggurats /home_set.html), Mexico (http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/mayan/TourEntrance.html) and Cahokia (http://www.cahokiamounds.com/cahokia.html) in North America, and Peru in South America (http://www.inkanatura.com/coastchiclayotrujillotucumepyramids.asp ). They found pyramids, ziggurats, and truncated pyramids. Using this knowledge, they constructed a wall mural of the world with each site labeled and a picture of the pyramidal structure affixed to it. Beneath each site, students wrote why they thought people built a pyramid at the site. By looking at a common shape, the students examined politics, religion, commerce, agriculture, and social structure in many different parts ~!the world. Barta-Smith, N. A., & Hathaway, J. T. (2000). Making cyberspaces into cyberplaces. Journal of Geography) 99(6),253-265. Bellan, J. M., & Scheurman, G. (1998). Actual and virtual reality: Making the most offield trips. Social Education) 62(1), 35--40. Joseph, L. C. (1999). Net curriculum: An educator)sguide to using the Internet. Medford, NJ: CyberAge Books, Information Today. Krupnick, K. (1998). Dog sleds online: Creating a virtual field trip. Social Studies Review) 38(1), 43--46. Ricchiuti, L. (1998). Hanging in the Louvre: Virtual museums in the classroom. Social Studies Review) 38(1),57-63. Stainfield, J., Fisher, P., Ford, B., & Solem, M. (2000). International virtual field trips: A new direction? Journal of Geography in Higher Education) 24(2), 255-262. Willis, A. (1999). Content-rich commercial Websites. Social Education) 63(3), 157-159. Wilson, E. K., Rice, M. L., Bagley, W., & Rice, M. K. (2000). Virtual field trips and newsrooms: Integrating technology into the classroom. Social Education) 64(3), 152-155.