As I read through the Online Experience Guideline-Companion Document I was really amazed at the number of options that would qualify toward a student's 20 hours of experience. Because the document was focused on providing online experience to middle school and high school grade levels, the sites provided in the document were geared toward older students and too advanced for my second and third grade students. However, I did browse through the sites provided to see if there were other age appropriate material and became very engrossed in the material and what I could use with my students. No wonder it takes me so long to finish an assignment!
I selected the virtual and online field trips as something I could implement with my grade level of students. Because there is a wide variety of field trips available, I felt they could be used in any content area I wanted to use them with. I like the idea of online/virtual field trips because they can expose the children to places and experiences we wouldn't normally be able to take them on. For instance, what second grader wouldn't want to see the inside of a volcano or journey to the bottom of the ocean? The use of these types of field trips is a great way to spark student interest in many different things and help motivate them to learn in specific content areas. I also like how virtual field trips expose students to new types of technology and challenge them to work independently or in a small group setting, depending on the format the teacher provides. The down side for my low level readers, is that there is a lot of reading involved. However, I think there are various ways to overcome this challenge in the classroom with a little forethought from the teacher. On the positive side, because there is so much reading involved, virtual field trips could even boost reading comprehension skills in students. I did find a variety of different level field trips available on the Internet thus giving me even more opportunity to find something just right for each student.
Often times, when I have a gifted student in my classroom, I am looking for something that would spark their interest and challenge them as well. I think virtual field trips could help in my search for differentiated material I could use with my students. Another point in my choice to utilize online field trips is that they provide experiential learning experiences to the classroom. This allows children the freedom to experiment with ideas and develop their problem-solving skills without the risks of embarrassment or failure.
Most of the technology options the before mentioned document contained would, at least at this point, be difficult for my students to use. Mostly because we don't have that much technology to offer them yet. Next school year we are getting a few new things that will help expose our students to more technology but they will be available on a limited basis because of the need to share them throughout the school as opposed to having one in every classroom or a computer lab you could take students to. I think the age level of my students would also make some of the resources more difficult to implement as well.
I found the Michigan Merit Curriculum Guidelines - Online Experience and it's companion document to be very interesting to read and develop a better understanding of what's coming in the way of technology that we must provide for our students in order to prepare them for a future in which they will need to develop the skills for.
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