A Vermont school teacher, Amy Clapp, and a scientist, Max Holmes, traveled to Siberia as well as the Yukon to study the climate change and it’s affect on the world. Upon their return, Ms. Clapp’s classroom along with another classroom in Vermont, “participated in a video conference with students from Siberia to talk about a subject affecting them all--- global climate change.” (Harsha) These two classrooms shared the information that they learned with the other classrooms in Vermont. The sixth graders learned about the differences in the change of weather between continents. Fascination took over as the children visited a different country via virtual reality.
This is a perfect way for a science teacher to bring reality closer to home about the consequences of global warming. By taking a virtual field trip, they are able to discuss important issues to other children of the world and understand their points of view when it comes to weather and wildlife.
I think this way of teaching is very interesting. Technology has come a long way since I have been in elementary school. When I was in sixth grade, we tried to have pen pals from a third world country. However, because of ‘snail mail’, we were not able to keep the letters flowing from classroom to classroom. Discussing important subjects like global warming and endangered wildlife begin the shaping of a child’s life into becoming more of an adult. It also raises awareness to the children of today, so that they may care and fix what is left of tomorrow.
I feel like further research could have been added to further support the importance of the virtual field trips in the classrooms. The article should have had more research and less quotes from the students. The quotes convey emotion from the students, but further investigation would have supported the article with a little more “back bone”.
For further information, please use this link to the website article...
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7629512&nav=4QcS
3 comments:
Cayla, this is such an interesting side of Virtual Field Trips. Not only are these children participating in the learning process by actively viewing, they are also engaging and interacting with other children, similar to themselves, across the globe. What a fantastic way for the learning process to take place. This is such an interesting topic that it has me wanting to participate in this active learning as well. I too have been in a classroom in elementary school and attempted to have a pen-pal in another continent but by the time you hear from them again, you can hardly remember what you wrote to them to begin with. I think this way of communicating to other children is a great way to provide a meaningful learning experience for all of these young children. For them to hear about similar issues and problems occurring in the world today, first hand, they are much more likely to take note of it and care. Thank you for sharing this experience, Mia Cirillo
I agree that virtual field trips are a great way to teach any subject. I know I would have loved to have experienced something like that when I was in elementary school. It is so important to get your students interested in what they're learning, and virtual field trips seem like a good way to do that. I do think that those students will care a lot more about global warming now that they have some first hand experience with it, than they would if they just read about it in some textbook. Those students are also becoming more globally connected because they're talking to people from around the world. Most kids that age haven't even heard of Syria, and these kids are actually talking to people there and learning from them. I do believe that some further research should be done on virtual field trips, but I think that, if used correctly, they can be a great learning experience for students of any age.
Wow....what a great idea. Not only does this article describe a virtual field trip...but also an interactive one as well.It gives the students more control over their experience rather that experience it through someone else's "structured" idea of what they find to be important points. It allows the children self-expression and will improve their attitudes about people from other countries and cultures.
-Jennifer Z.
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