Mrs. Trudden’s Tech Talk

As I’ve noticed in the past few years field trips are becoming few and far between as a part of the education of elementary school students.  When I began teaching ten years ago we went on six trips a year.  We also had two in-house trips where someone came to us.  These days it seems elementary students in my schools only go on one or two trips per year.

This begs the question of teachers:  How are we able to still give students the experience for learning outside the classroom without leaving the classroom or school building?  Answer:  Technology!

During the past month I came across two items that spoke to the idea of Virtual Field Trips.  It’s no wonder that with the cost of buses, fuel, admission prices going up these online tools are becoming more utilized.

Teachers who are interested in learning more about Virtual Field Trips and all that they can offer you in your classroom check out the following article from ISTE Learning and Leading by Kimberly Ketterer.

Parents!  Keep in mind that Virtual Field Trips are not only for Teachers to use.  They are a great way for you to incorporate them into your child’s time home from school or their summer vacation.  If you are like me, you probably don’t have the extra money to fly to Chicago just to check out the Field Museum, but if you have access to a computer with an internet connection you can experience it online!  Most libraries have computers that are available for just such an experience if you don’t have reliable internet at home.  Remember to take headphones (walkman headphones are fine) with you though….some virtual trips have great sound files to listen or movies to watch.

Mrs. Smoke has put together a great list of some links to the best Virtual Field Trips for kids.  What’s even better is that she has added grade level ranges to most of her suggestions.  Check them out!

Don’t forget these other great interactive websites that also serve as great Virtual Trips to local points of interest!

Bayville (5th Grade)

Maryland Roots (4th Grade)

I have finally been able to catch up on some much needed reading in some of my favorite blogs.  I stumbled across a post on Dangerously Irrelevant about digital copies of books.  With the invention of the Amazon Kindle and other Book Reading devices, they have changed the way we read books and gather information.  Now, as an avid reader of books in their traditional form, I simply enjoy the feel of a hardback in my hands while I’m reading.  I don’t know what it is but I love going into book stores, especially older ones with their shelves to the ceiling and huge wingback chairs to sit and lounge while getting lost in an author’s cast of characters. My favorite being Elliott Bay Books in Seattle.

Most recently, I considered getting a Kindle for use when I travel.  Usually when I go on trips, I devour 2-3 books therefore taking up space in my carry on bags.  When I saw the Kindle, I thought, “WOW!  I can take my books with me in a more compact form.”  But at $359 at Amazon.com, it’s a steep price tag for a few trips a year.

Now looks like the genius’ at Apple have designed an app that you can download for free that turns your iPhone/iPod Touch into your very own small version of a Kindle.  This would allow me to pack as many books as I would like, and the option to purchase more during my travels, fitting in my pocket.

Thinking back to education, what use does this pose for the classroom?  Instead of children lugging home textbooks in their backpacks, what if their textbooks were all on a device that can fit into their pocket?  What if books were on a device that would allow us to change the text size larger or smaller to fit the needs of students with vision impairments?  There is also a text to speech feature that can read your favorite books, newspapers, and magazines to you. The iPhone/iPod Touch also allow students to listen to podcasts and classroom lectures as well.

This poses some food for thought about the use of technology both in schools and outside it.  Devices like the iPhone and the iPod Touch are paving the way for children as digital citizens in our world.