Reality and Virtual Trips

Both the Suzie Boss and Bob Coutler articles struck me in their similarities in how to enhance a child's experience in the class room, specifically revolving around bringing the outside world in.

Boss' description of Google Lit Trips left me wondering more about the site. I visited it and was pleasantly surprised how organized and user friendly it was. You can search for books my title, author, or do searches by grade, etc. Once you select a book it tells you who created it (student, teacher, etc) and then you can download it. This practice could truly make literature come to life for some students, especially those who don't enjoy reading as much as others. Having the ability to bring the setting of that book into the classroom, regardless of how many thousands of miles away it is, could both make the experience reading the book richer, as well as inspiring students to utilize literature to their fullest extent. Being in the Field Based Experience group for the presentations and having completed research on the topic, I feel that Google should advertise this site more so, so teachers can bring it into their classrooms more often.

Bob Coutler's article solidified many of my ideas on student inquiry and field trips. First off, coming from much more traditional-esque classrooms throughout my schooling, I thought it was a pleasant surprise to see the amount of time that the class spent on a topic. Specifically, the class discussed spent three months on their unit of "What's it like where you live?" Another pleasant aspect of this unit was how student-inquiry based it was. Given the time frame, students were able to not only observe their surroundings, but carefully explore the changes that occur in a given area due to the time of year. The links between weather, animal and land exploration were surprisingly clear, even linking back to the curriculum they endured the year before, researching the migration patterns of birds. After having established some solid concepts, Coutlers then introduced the students to the integration of technology in the unit. He stated "In my experience, it is only in the context of rich experiential background that technology use is appropriate for elementary students." I couldn't agree with this statement more. When working with young students, it seems that introducing technology too early could inhibit the learning experience by distracting them, as opposed to introducing it after concepts are well established. Utilizing it for research, virtual field trips, graphic uses, among other uses allows enhancement to the outstanding purpose, while not overwhelming it.