Virtual Field Trips and Genius Hour

What is a Virtual Field Trip? 

I remember as a student loving going on field trips. There are plenty of field trip opportunities all over the world! However, most students would not be able to afford to travel to, let's say New York to go to The Metropolitan Museum. The 21st century however, lets us experience different field trips from the comfort of our classrooms. Virtual Field Trips are just that, a field trip, experienced virtually through the World Wide Web. In my Teaching with Technology class at Brock University, we looked at Virtual field trips. According to video we watched there are 4 main reasons to use these virtual trips. 

1. Review a class trip already taken
2. Prepare students for an upcoming trip 
3. Provide information about areas unable to be visited
4. provide information about areas visited by a teacher 

This activity reminded me of when I took art, and we looked at how museums provide many online resources to view virtual tours of the museum. I personally looked at The Met Museum, and how they created a student friendly site that allows them to explore different pieces of art. I think virtual field trips are a great idea, since it opens the doors to possibilities for both student and teacher learning. 

Genius Hour!

Genius Hour was the main focus in my tech class this week. Our teacher got us engaged by looking at the following video

Genius hour is an idea that students should explore their own passions which fosters creativity. Caine is very creative, and shows that by developing a whole arcade from predominately cardboard. I think all teachers should incorporate genius hour into their classrooms, because it give students worth in learning. In many cases students ask "why are we learning this?" and most of the time the underlying reason is, that it's in the curriculum. Genius hour allows students to learn something they want to know, and show them the benefit and outcomes of learning, and applying what they learned to real-life. I think this will in turn help students focus in regular classroom activities. 

Is Genius hour something you promote in your classroom?