Week 6 PLE

Along with using a virtual tour in my classroom, the videos and photos can account for the sense of sight. Sounds of the various locations can be played using a CD player in order for the students to experience what they would hear if they were really visiting these places (i.e. Sounds of the Amazon). For the sense of smell, air freshener can be sprayed that resembles the scent of these locations (i.e. fish and salt water for the Great Barrier Reef). Also, the students could bring in food that would be found in these locations for the sense of taste (i.e. fish for Nunavut). Finally, the sense of touch can be covered by having props that feel like the land in the various locations (i.e. sand and rocks for Atacama).

For the virtual tour examples, I first viewed the Volcanoes tour. I liked how they had questions for the students to answer after watching the videos. I think this reminds the students to pay attention to the video. Also, having questions insures that the students are learning something. I also watched the Ancient Ruins tour, and I liked how the questions are super descriptive. This helps the students actually put themselves in the locations, and catch a glimpse of what it's like there. Lastly, I went through the WWII Holocaust Tour. I really liked all the medians hat were used to give the information (article, movie, pictures, etc.). I think this is a great way to keep the students interested because variety is good!

I think the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to implementing a virtual tour into my classroom. An upside to using the tour is that they students would stay interested. However, it is necessary to make sure the videos, etc. are educational. The downside is taking the time to teach Google Earth to the kids before they use the tour. Also, not all of the footage from Google Earth is a street view, thus it's hard to catch a glimpse of what the buildings, etc. look like in real life.