Electronic Field Trips
Electronic Field Trips
An electronic field trip can take students and educators on trips to
laboratories, classrooms, events or remote sites. Educators can now make
it possible to take students anywhere --- electronically and inxpensively.
Electronic field trips make it possible for students to gain experiences
otherwise impossible. Students can go to destinations without
ever leaving the classroom. The definition of electronic field trip
has two meanings in education: An electronic field trip can be interactive
or passive.
Interactive:
An interactive electronic field trip means the user is viewing an event,
site or location through a tv or computer. The students will view
the information live and interact with speakers, receive expertise from
highly qualified on-site experts in a field of study, tour guides....
Students will communicate by email, fax or phone. Students will ask
questions, make decisions, and problem solve. The teacher in
advance will schedule the field trip, receive lesson plans and resource
guides to correlate with the field trip.
An electronic field trip is highly cost-efficient. There may be costs
and equipment requirements involved. The cost could be very minimal
or ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the trip.
When scheduling the trip, the cost will be posted. A field
trip may have a cost or could be free. Educators can take an entire class
to a remote area for less than a single airline ticket. A field trip
will vary in time, from one day, to a week, to months depending on the
trip chosen. There are certain technical requirements for each trip
and the requirements will be posted.
Passive:
An passive electronic field trip means the user is viewing an event,
site or location through a tv or computer. The information is not
live. The student can view the information but can not interact immediately.
The idea of a passive electronic field trip is an example of a tour.
You are given the information and pictures. This type of electronic field
trip is usually free. There is no time limit on viewing the information.
The technical requirements are minimal.
When participating in an Electronic Field Trip you may need the following:
