This week I searched the Internet looking for articles on virtual field trips. I was curious not only because it will be the final project but because it is something that can be fun and easy for a teacher to take students anywhere in the world or even beyond and not have to pay for buses or anything else, they would just need a computer for every student and, with how many classrooms are today, that seems like it wouldn't take much effort at all. After searching for a few hours, I finally found an article that I enjoyed about virtual field trips! The article is titled "Rural Washington Students Connect with the World" and it showed how virtual field trips can connect people and possibly help teachers give a more structured lesson.
The article was not only about virtual field trips but also about how technology can now connect students across the world and help them to help each other through hard times they may be going through. Not only that but they have also compared life styles and technology with students around the world. There was a project that a class in Washington and a class in Russia did where they drew a picture and wrote about a family theme. They finished and sent their finished works to each other first through the mail, then through email. A Washington student saw a picture from one of the Russian students and realized it was almost exactly the same as his picture! How amazing is that? Two students across the world from each other drew the same family picture without knowing that they were doing it. Through this we can see how alike people actually can be even when they live across the world from each other, what else could we be able to see through virtual trips and other technology uses in the classroom? This absolutely fascinated me; the concepts and the outcomes.
The article also said that students enjoyed seeing the likenesses in the drawings and liked seeing the differences even more. This must be so wonderful for the students to be involved in. The students also discussed the drawings, what they liked and didn't like, and asked questions about the drawings. The program that they were using says that they are now ready for the next step in this whole technological connection; video conferences. It will be exciting to find out what more they can learn about other countries and people in other countries through this new step!
I think that video conferences will be a great continuation in this technological expansion and I think that more teachers should become involved in this program and continue to evolve these technological advances.
6 comments:
I think it’s a great idea that these students got to connect with people in other countries! It is really exciting especially to younger students to talk and communicate with someone hundreds of miles away. Video conferences also are a great idea, and an important technological advance that can help these students connect and share their thoughts and experiences with one another, just like they did with the drawings. Great article Katherine!
After reading the original article and then reading yours, I think you did a great job of summarizing the article. I think that the oppurtunity for students to be able to talk to other students in other countries through video conferences is a positive experience. I enjoyed the article and your opinions, good job Katherine.
Reading your summary and the article, it really opened my mind. My article was on places and like how to get the children interested in the outdoors. When reading your article I was like wow, I guess I never really thought about the opportunity that the children could have in learning about other students. We are always trying to be more diverse in school and always looking for a new way to bring it into the class and video conferences would be perfect. Great idea and good article.
Katy,
I think it is a great idea for chldren to be able to relate even though they live worlds apart. I think the artical you chose was very informative and gave you alot of details to elaberate on. Great job summerizing the artical and sharing your thoughts.
I think that is is great the students got to see things from other countries, and its amazing that these two students drew almost the same picture. Great article.
The article “Rural Washington Students Connect with the World" had a lot of interesting information. The first key point that interested me was that iEARN, a network of 95 countries and 400,000 students that sponsors a long list of collaborative projects designed to build global bridges, improve education, and make a difference in the world was available for teachers to use in their classrooms. I was amazed at the fact that this class in rural Washington State was able to connect with a class in Russia and participate in this cross classroom activity. As did you I found it interesting that the American student and Russian student had the same view of family and chose the same way to depict it. I have experience with video conferencing being used as a training tool in the business sector but I hadn’t considered it as an educational tool to use in the classroom until this week’s blogging activity. But, after reading the article you referenced and thinking about it there is a lot of activities that can be brought into the classroom using video conferencing technology. This technology can have a positive influence on the experiences students in our diverse global society are exposed to. Even at a young age exposing students to different cultures and the things that affect the students in different countries can positively influence how they view people in general.
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