Subject: Virtual Fieldtrips Provide All Students With Useful Learning Experiences.
From: Ginette Perkins (ginettep@seals.org)
Date: Wed Jun 20 2001 - 09:18:04 PDT
Virtual Fieldtrips Provide All Students With Useful Learning Experiences.
06/06/01
Full Text
Virtual fieldtrips are helpful for classes that include students with
disabilities, and provide relief from logistical issues normal field trips
contain, according to educators who have used them.
Mary Larcome, a teacher at Golden Hill Elementary School in Haverhill,
Mass., said using virtual fieldtrips has saved the school time and expense
and included more students.
"I have a Down Syndrome child in my class," Larcome told ETN. "We've taken
kids on the Freedom Trail in [nearby] Boston and he couldn't do it. The
stimulus is too much. So your choice is leave that kid at home or don't do
the fieldtrip with the class. This [virtual fieldtrip] is a much more
manageable environment."
Larcome uses virtual fieldtrips provided by PictureTel. The company arranges
the fieldtrips based on what students are studying.
A Whole New World
In one fieldtrip using videoconferencing technology, Larcome's class joined
students from Argentina and Mexico for a visit to the Atlanta Zoo to get a
close-up view of Pandas.
"For the students it was very new, the whole idea that this was live,"
Larcome said. "They're used to TV where they can't interact with it at all."
Children from each country asked each other and zoo personnel questions.
Language was not a barrier, as a translator was available if needed, and the
Argentine and Mexican fourth graders spoke English proficiently.
Virtual fieldtrips are easier logistically, Larcome asserted. "You don't
have to go to the hassles of arranging one chaperone for every four
students," she said. "You also didn't have to deal with the hassles of
busing, the manageability of children who have problems where they may not
be able to walk."
While some say that it is better to be there in person, students gain more
on virtual fieldtrips, said Sarah Lake, a PictureTel representatives who
often serves as a translator on virtual fieldtrips involving Spanish- or
Portuguese-speaking students.
"Yes, there are some elements of the experience you don't get when you are
videoconferencing," Lake told ETN. "[But] the big advantage is, when you
take kids to the zoo, there is a lot of distraction. If there is someone
leading an exhibit up front, they are not capturing everyone's attention. On
electronic fieldtrips, the level of attention is way up. When you ask them
what they did, they can tell you with 99 percent accuracy."
Preparing students for a virtual fieldtrip is really no different than
preparing them for a regular fieldtrip, Larcome said. However, the benefits
of the online fieldtrip are enormous.
"The students really just couldn't stop talking about it after it ended, and
they really remember a lot of what they experienced," she said. "The parents
who participated said it was one of the best fieldtrip experiences they
had."
Contacts: Mary Larcome, Golden Hill Elementary School, (978) 374-5794,
www.haver hill-ma.com/goldenhill; Sarah Lake, PictureTel, (978) 292-5000,
www.picturetel.com.
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