When seventh graders in Stockton took a field trip to see elephant seals, they didn’t even step outside their school. Instead, with the help of a projector and a video camera, the students teleconferenced with a state park guide on the California coast.
Across a distance of 100 miles, students on the so-called “virtual field trip” got to talk with a guide, watch seals throw sand on themselves, and hear the beasts belch and bark. “If you can’t go somewhere, this can be the next best thing,” says Craig Wedegaertner, “or, it can be used to prepare students before they go there.”
As the days grow long and the school calendar short, field trip season is in full swing. But with fuel prices rocketing, some schools are discovering virtual field trips as a cost-effective way to add new—or farther afield—excursions.
As of last month, more than 1,125,000 students have participated in virtual field trips organized through the CILC (Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration) website alone. Some 150 institutions—from National Aeronautics and Space Administration to the Bronx Zoo—list trips on the site, and each month sees another three or four additions.
The technology has been around for years, but it’s only now gaining widespread adoption in classrooms, says Ms. Blangkenbaker. There are several reasons: more schools with broadband, wider options for trips, rising costs for travel, and falling prices for teleconference systems. “With this technology, you have erased the geographic boundaries of your field trip experience with one$1,500 to $5,000 expenditure (on equipment),“ she says.
When Pluto was demoted as a planet, Cheryl Dultz’s set up a teleconference with a NASA educator who explained the reasons for the demotion to her third grade class in Citrus Heights, Calif. Like many proponents of the trend, she dislikes the term “virtual field trip” because it suggests that virtual trips might replace, rather than supplement, traditional trips.
“It would never take the place of a field trip, and in fact, I take as many field trips as I did before,” says Ms. Dultz. “I use the tool as an opportunity to have my students interact with experts in the field.”
That’s what organizations hosting virtual field trips are hoping. California State Parks, for instance, set up the elephant seal trip to introduce a new, more diverse generation to the parks—and spur interest in eventually visiting. “The goal is laudable (值得称道的) and part of pioneering efforts by park systems across the country to reverse declining attendance,” says Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.
“The problem is I can see school districts say, ‘Why should we pay for buses if we can just do this?’” he says. “Classroom learning about nature is terrific, including a virtual field trip. But I would not classify that as experience. What kids are missing now is not information. What they need most is the hands-dirty, feet-wet experience in nature.”
Virtual field trips, by comparison, are often free once the school invests in the equipment. The cost of one teleconferencing system is only slightly higher than that of busing two classes to see those elephant seals in person. But Dr. Small emphasizes that he doesn’t anticipate reducing traditional trips. He still plans to send his students to the state capitol. But the students might later do a teleconference with their state representative.
Beyond cost, virtual trips can often be more focused and easily aligned to educational objectives, says Small and others. “Take the kids to the zoo and they are all over the place. Take them to the Bronx Zoo, virtually, and they can go behind the scenes and see the hairs in a buffalo’s nose,” says Blankenbaker.
46. What is the meaning of“virtual field trip” according to the context?
A. A trip with a guide. B. A trip taken online.
C. A trip to a far away place. D. A trip to the place you like.
47. What does Ms. Dultz think of virtual field trips?
A. Students will learn more in virtual field trips.
B. Virtual field trips are of little help to students.
C. Virtual field trips shouldn’t replace traditional trips.
D. Students enjoy virtual field trips more than traditional trips.
48. What’s one of the advantages of traditional trips over virtual field trips?
A. Schools spend less money on traditional trips.
B. Traditional trips offer students real experience.
C. Traditional trips do not require high technology.
D. Students can be better prepared before traditional trips.
49. Who holds the idea that virtual field trips provide students with more detailed knowledge than traditional trips?
A. Craig Wedegaertner. B. Ms. Blangkenbaker.
C. Richard Louv. D. Dr. Small.
50. What is the most important reason for the author to write this passage?
A. To promote new technologies in virtual field trips.
B. To encourage more people to take virtual field trips.
C. To teach schools to organize both traditional and virtual field trips.
D. To introduce virtual field trips as a supplement to traditional trips.
