Virtual Field Trips

Our district has taken away all field trips in order to save money this year. We live in a rural school district and many of our students do not go to bookstores or even consider buying books. One of our annual trips is to go to Barnes and Noble where students invest in a book that they read and incorporate into a final exam assessment. Does anyone have an idea how we might be able to do this in a virtual way with the same sort of effect that a bookstore experience might have on students. We have considered using Shelfari, Amazon and other sites but don't really have a clear idea what that would look like as a field trip. We have 5 sections of American literature students (about 75) who would be partaking in the field trip. Any ideas?

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Permalink Reply by Anne Pemberton on March 6, 2010 at 9:17am

I am probably one of Amazon's best customers, so I am partial to Amazon.I think it would be a good virtual field trip. Of course, you may want to let different students go to different sites, perhaps one class to Amazon, on to Shelfari, one to Barnes and Noble, etc.

On Amazon it is possible to compile a Wish List, and the students can either make a class wish list, or an individual one. They then select one book from the wish list to order. Don't know about the others, but Amazon has some interesting options including reviews and peek inside the book. Looking at several books, comparing them, making a wish list, and completing an order would be worthwhile activities. For kids whose funds are limited, Amazon also provides access to used copies of all but the newest books. I've bought some books for as little as one cent. All books bought through Amazon have the same $3.99 shipping and handling costs, so an inexpensive book doesn't get expensive from those costs. My experience with used books has been excellent.

Hope this is helpful....
The advantage of a vitual trip to a bookstore, is that the students do not have to round up someone to drive them if they want to buy more books. All they need is a way to pay for it. One possibility is for a parent to give them a "gift card" to Amazon.

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Permalink Reply by Katy Scott on March 6, 2010 at 12:16pm

I think Anne has a great idea -- I love Amazon's "wish list" option.

I thought I'd add a little more about virtual field trips in general, outside of the reading trip you mentioned. If your collegues (or anyone else reading this topic) are looking for virtual science field trips, e-missions are intensive and extremely cool.

I saw a fourth-grade class in Phoenix take one. It's a role-playing in-class field trip where you set up a live video feed inside your classroom. People representing mission control talk to your students through the video feed, giving them data about, for example, a volcano that's about to blow on a small island. The kids then work in teams to do things like evacuate the inhabitants. The kids take the missions very seriously, especially since there's a time-limit to solving the problems. Students definitely learn problem-solving and communication skills, along with the science content. If you're interested, it's worth checking out.

Sorry to go off-topic a bit.