Presenter: Cynthia Cornwell, Technology Resource Teacher
Employer: Culbert Elementary School, Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia, US
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Northern Virginia, US
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Classroom Teachers, Media/Technology Specialists
Short Session Description: Combine Virtual Field Trips with Video Conferencing to far away schools to help students make real connections with each other.
Full Session Description: Video Conferencing is rapidly becoming the most widely accepted way for schools to connect classrooms around the globe. Tight budgets and not enough teaching time to cover all of the curriculum has furthered this development. To make the learning from far away more interactive, meaningful, and authentic, teachers can include virtual field trips using several different free tools and web-based resources to enhance the classroom-to-classroom collaboration. Students gain the same knowledge, which then becomes prior knowledge, much like they have been there, which enhances the interaction with their collaborating classrooms. We combine this with pen pal exchanges between students in collaborative partnerships. Simply put, it gives kids something to talk about when they write to each other. That commonality is what makes the collaborative learning more powerful for students.
During this session the presenter will showcase different collaborative projects in which her school participated. In connection with classrooms and experts from around the world, Culbert Elementary School immersed its students in a learning experience through which they experienced firsthand cultural and historic components pertinent to their curriculum. The feature collaboration is Virginia-Hawaii. Put on your hula skirt, sun screen, and sunglasses for this sample virtual field trip to Hawaii to learn more about how to easily implement this learning opportunity in your classroom or school. Free resources for making school-to-school connections will be shared.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:
Google Earth, http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/;
US National Parks Service and State Parks, http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm.
Capspace, video conferencing bridges and classroom connections, http://projects.twice.cc/;
CILC.org http://www.cilc.org/;
ePals http://www.epals.com/
Power to Learn Guide to Virtual Field Trips http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/taking_a_virtual_field_trip.shtml ;
Common Sense Media.org lesson plan for student creation of virtual field trips, http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/safetysecurity/lessons/k-1/go_places_safely/;
Edutopia, article http://www.edutopia.org/virtual-field-trips .
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