Interactive Tours
The increasing number of students taking online courses is
expanding at a rapid pace. Students receive a broader idea of the outside world
while still inside their home and school.
The interaction of students with other cultures to expose them to
multicultural and global view of the world is important in educating students
(Germain-Rutherford & Kerr, 2008).
Instructors need to be looking for activities that give students better
exposure in these areas. Field trips outside
of the school are becoming more unfavorable due to many factors. The ability of an instructor to make lessons
a real world situation and create the activity in a more student-centered way
gives a better mastery of a subject (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, &
Zvacek, 2012).
On-site field trips do have their downfalls such as cost,
chaperones, security issues, and transportation (Jackson, n.d.). The ability for students to interact with
museums and places in other parts of the country and the world is an
increasingly popular activity in high school and college courses. In this day and age, people do not have the
money to allow their students to take field trips. The Internet provides these resources to
students without having to leave their school building.
In response to the history teacher scenario, interactive
tours can be a valuable resource to allow students to view artwork and
exhibitions from around the world. New
York is home to many famous museums such as the Guggenheim and the American Museum of Natural History. Both museums offer interactive tours for
students to view from their websites.
The technology I offer to the history teacher is to use a computer lab
that contains computers for each student, as well as a white board, projector,
and ability to do two way live video chat.
The teacher or instructional designer will need to contact the museum
and arrange a time and place to set up a live interactive tour or interview
with the curator. The software such as
Skype is great for online interaction and allows the curator in New York to
walk the students through an exhibit. The curator may potentially have a laptop with
a webcam and microphone to help give a tour of the exhibit. If this is not possible, the museums offer
interactive virtual tours that the students can view from their computers. After this tour, the students and curator can
have a live video chat to discuss the exhibit with the curator and the two
items of artwork for discussion.
The instructor will need the following technology equipment:
- Computer Lab equipped with computers for each student.
- White Board with projector
- Microphone and web cam capabilities for live interaction
- Skype software or another form of video chat software.
This technology is a successful way for students to enrich
their cultural background and knowledge.
An example of a successful live interactive tour is a live, virtual tour
the U.S. Air Force by Lt. Col. Sharon Nehrings.
The tour gives students of a middle school in Oklahoma a live tour of
the air force base in Florida (Scott, J., 2012). The Skype software company also gives instructors
many great ideas on how to use their software for interactive live chats in the
classroom. The site URL is https://education.skype.com/ and is
free for all educators to use and view.
The Internet, webcams, and computers offer an abundance of free
resources for instructors to use in education.
References
Amnh.org, (2012).
American Museum of Natural History.
Retrieved on November 12, 2012 from http://www.amnh.org/
Germain-Rutherford, A., & Kerr, B. (2008). An inclusive
approach to online learning environments: Models and resources. Turkish
Online Journal of Distance Education TOJDE, 9(2). Retrieved from http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde30/pdf/article_2.pdf
Guggenheim.org, (2012).
Guggenheim. Retrieved on November
12, 2012 from
Jackson, C. (n.d.).
The Benefits of Virtual Field Trips for Students. Retrieved on November 12, 2012 from http://www.ehow.com/list_5970076_benefits-virtual-field-trips-students.html
Scott, J. (2012). AOC
Hosts First Online Virtual Tour.
Retrieved on November 12, 2012 from
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S.
(2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance
education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Skype.com, (2012).
Skype in the Classroom. Retrieved
on November 12, 2012 from https://education.skype.com/
