Did you know you DON'T need Google Cardboard or a VR viewer to take your kids on a virtual field trip? You can lead an expedition and still give your kids a 360-degree view on a tablet! Thank you to Laurie Anastasio for sharing this information with me!

As long as your tablets are all on the same wifi you can choose an expedition and lead your class on a virtual field trip right on their iPad or Android device! As the guide you still have the same awesome background information provided to you on the expedition and can lead your class through different scenes targeting specific places.

Many of us only have a few ipads available in our class so a whole class expedition might not be possible yet. However, with just a few ipads on the app you can set up to lead an expedition and have your students visit a faraway place or dive back in time in a small group or station rotation.

Even with only one iPad hooked up to a projector and your smartphone or additional tablet you can still lead your whole class on an expedition together. Take a 360 view of your destination and have kids come up and lead or explore.

Perhaps you have one VR Viewer or Google Cardboard and an old (or new) phone. Don't let that stop you from giving your kids the full virtual reality experience. Choose an "Explorer of the Day" and have that student visit a place you are studying as a class or let them pick. Once they "return" from their trip have the student practice their public speaking skills by giving the class a summary of their trip and a few things they learned on their journey.

Rachel Marker (@RachelMarker) had a great suggestion to have students share their findings with other tools like SeeSaw or even have a class "Explorer" podcast where each explorer records an episode about where they traveled. Below are a few resources for getting started with podcasts in your classroom.

Ditch That Textbook: Why your students need a podcast and how to do it fast and free

EdTech Teacher: Using Podcasts in the Classroom

ReadWriteThink.org: The Nuts and Bolts of Creating Podcasts

Got a whole class set of VR Viewers and smart phones? Great! Take your class on a field trip. Kasey Bell (@shakeuplearning) has a fantastic post on Getting Started with Google Expeditions and Virtual Reality. She has some wonderful suggestions and even breaks down different VR headsets available.

Check out this list of all of the available Google Expeditions! Search by grade, subject or location.

Search Tes resources of available Google Expeditions that now include links to available lesson plans!

On January 26th Doug Fisher moderated a #Ditchbook chat on using Virtual Reality and Google Cardboard in the classroom! It was a fabulous chat and great way to share ideas and snag some new ones too! You can keep sharing your ideas by posting them on Twitter using the hashtag #Ditchbook.

Questions? Comments? Feedback? Please feel free to contact me anytime.

Email: kdmoura@gmail.com
Twitter: @KarlyMoura