Distance Field Trips & Guest Speakers with SKYPE in the Classroom

Although it isn’t something I’ve included on the blog, every Thursday I use our social media pages to share a “Throwback Thursday” post. Sometimes these showcase how ed tech has evolved while others showcase previous posts from my social media feed.

This week I shared a post that I had originally published in 2017 from my Grade 10 Geography class. At the time we had been discussing the characteristics of different biomes and while experiencing those biomes first hand would have been ideal we were obviously limited to our geographical location. Our plan involved students:
– in small groups of their choosing
– using a combination of their own devices or our limited number of shared classroom devices
– experiencing a virtual 3D version of various biomes
– summarizing their learning and sharing with their peers

Using 360 degree videos to explore characteristics of biomes in Gr 10 Geo today #trsd32 #edtech #biomes pic.twitter.com/jM4Cu3fypR

— Kirsten Thompson – Coordinator of ICT (@Thompsonclass) February 22, 2017

Looking back on this post it made me think of the role these types of virtual experiences will play in the post-pandemic classroom. Right now there is no information available regarding what field trips will look like, what guest speakers are able to visit your school or even if the budget for these opportunities will continue to be available. Furthermore, we don’t even know if our students will be with us face-to-face 100% of the time. I strongly believe that these types of virtual options will play a big role in programming moving forward; both due to health restrictions and budget.

It is my hope that our educators use the tools that are available to them, like SKYPE in the Classroom, to augment their students’ experiences. This FREE online community/resource center houses ALL things related to Skype and how it can be used by educators/students. You will be able to access:

Virtual field trips
Skype lessons
Skype collaborations
Mystery Skype
Guest speakers

To learn more about this resource check out the video below:

You can also learn more about how to use this tool by participating in FREE online PD through the Microsoft Educator Community.

Introduction to Skype in the Classroom

“Skype in the Classroom is an online community that enables thousands of teachers to inspire the next generation of global citizens through transformative learning over Skype.”