VTFs are here and you EDUCATORs need to take advantage of them!
First Question...What is a VTF??
Answer: VTF stands for VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP. VTF (interactive synchronous & asynchronous) is a tool (usually website) that utilizes text, audio or video resources to provide information about a specific topic.
Asynchronous VTF is similar to the tours you may see online when shopping for a home. You can walk into the house and pan X amount of degrees while you hear an audio narration of the particulars of the home.
The interactive synchronous VTF provides real time interaction with an expert or specialist on a particular topic of interest. Two way communications is the intent of such an apparatus. An example of this would be the cool CISCO commercials with the kids video conferencing from half way around the world some expert in his or her field.
Second Question....Why should I be interested in VTFs??
Answer: Virtual Field Trips are a pretty good idea when you consider some of the challenges we educators face now-a-days. The $$$ needed to sustain transportation prevent many students from visiting museums, parks and observatories. Many of these entities have the capacity to provide VTFs so why not engage them? Ultimately you are extending an opportunity to a student that has been compromised by budgets and distances beyond the capacity of your district or school board.
Third Question....Okay, I’m interested but how do I do this?
Answer: You will need some hardware and Bandwidth to support VTFs. These items may already be installed at your school site as many schools have adopted a standard that requires some type of long distance education. Speak with your IT dept to ascertain your capacities.
You are limited only by your imagination! Imagine being able to bring the museum or expert to your classroom for a question and answer session....No wait! You don’t have to imagine anything. YOU CAN BRING THEM TO YOUR CLASS VIA VTFs!!! Now, Go and do great things SUPER-DOOPER, TECHNICALLY SAVVY TEACHER!!
Zanetis, J. (2010, March/April). The beginner's guide to interactive virtual field trips. Learning and Leading with Technology, 10-23. ISTE: Eugene, OR.
Very organized formatting :) I really enjoyed this topic and actually implemented a virtual field trip on my website. With budget cuts and less money going to our school the idea of implementing virtual field trips is a great way to extend classroom learning. The entire class can access a multitude of places directly from the classroom. Interesting post I would definitely implement Virtual Field trip into my classroom !
ReplyDeleteNicely done :)
ReplyDeleteVirtual field trips sound great. This is especially good in today's financial times. Students can go out and explore places they would never get to see all from their very own classroom. This is a great tool that I will definitely use in my classroom.