At the I/O 2015 a few months ago, you may remember that Google announced the Google Expeditions. It’s a new programt that brings classes to a virtual field trip with Cardboard. This project is almost ready to rock the classrooms not only in the United States but also in the UK, New Zealand, Brazil, and Australia.
With the help of a Cardboard VR Viewer, teachers and students can have an “almost-there” experience. They can now go on virtual field trips to some of the places we couldn’t visit before. Even the ancient and historic plans, they can visit with this teaching tool. Sure, students can always pore over photographs in books and found all over the Internet, Wikipedia, and dedicated websites but nothing beats the real experience. Well, it’s not really “real” but virtual reality offers a different kind of experience–it’s as if you’re there but you can’t touch anything.
One of the first few teachers lucky to use Google Expeditions in her class was teacher Katrina Roman of the Bronx Latin School in New York City. She took the class to visit the ‘ancient Aztec ruins’ by letting them use the Google Cardboard. The students were able to “see” the Tenochtitlan’s carvings while they “stood” at on top of Chichen Itza. That’s an interesting field trip we wish we have during our school days. (How lucky these kids are to have learning tools such as this…)
Google’s Expeditions Pioneer Program aims to bring this kind of VR experience to more students from schools all over the world. More kits will be delivered in classrooms next school year 2015-2016. Each kit will include an ASUS smartphone, tablet for the teacher, a router that lets Expeditions run even without Internet access, and Google Cardboard viewers for the students. Some may receive Mattel View-Masters (yup, your childhood fave!) instead of Google Cardboards.
Some of the places the teachers and students can visit include the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef, and even Mars (whoa!). Google has partnered with more organizations like the Wildlife Conservation Society, PBS, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Alchemy VR to bring more “places to visit”.
Aside from places, virtual days of professional like a computer scientist or a doctor can be explored by students as well. Google partnered with Starfish Foundation for this effort. Meanwhile, virtual college tours will be offered by the Reach Higher initiative, a project of First Lady Michelle Obama.
Subaru, through its Love Promise project, is currently supporting Google in this Google Expeditions program by investing Subaru cars. A fleet of Expedition Pioneer Program rides will be ready to bring the educational tools and kits to schools all over the country.
The virtual reality age has definitely started. This isn’t just going digital, this is virtual reality.
SOURCE: Google
Google is the most successful technology who’s work for education. Their expedition program on virtual education is being success in reality life. So i wish for this program. ..