What is a Virtual Field Trip?

Before embarking on my journey in technology class, I have never in my educational experience heard of a virtual field trip. When I first heard of the idea, I was blown away with how amazing it was. So, what exactly is it? A virtual field trip enables teachers and students to go just about anywhere on Earth, through the use of the Internet. I think it is great that I can go on a virtual trip with my students at an extremely low cost! It is almost too good to be true... Imagine teaching about something in the curriculum and being able to show the students exactly what it looks like through the use of a virtual field trip. Teaching and learning is becoming more and more innovative and I am so excited to implement a virtual field trip in my future classroom. Not only is it a fun and engaging way to learn curriculum content, but it also connects to the 21st Century. Students are immersed in a technology advanced society, so why not use technology to make learning in the classroom fun and engaging by travelling the world?

Genius Hour was also discussed in today's tech class. I have heard of Genius Hour before, but had very limited knowledge on what it actually encompassed. Genius Hour is a project in the classroom where passions come to life. Students are able to explore their own passions for a set amount of time. Here's a quick video that can explain Genius Hour in more depth:



I am so excited that I can embark on my own Genius Hour! I decided to focus mine on implementing video games in the classroom, to make learning curricular content more fun and engaging. Recently, I have realized how much video games help with decreasing stress. So I thought, how can I implement video games into the classroom to make learning the curriculum content more fun? I cannot wait to learn more about this topic, especially because of how innovative schools are becoming in the 21st Century. Technology is embedded so much in contemporary classrooms already, so why not bring in some video games that can not only relate to students' interests but also make learning motivating and engaging!