Expeditions is a virtual reality platform built for the classroom. Google worked with teachers and content partners from around the world to create more than 100 engaging journeys - making it easy to immerse students in entirely new experiences.
Expeditions teams visit selected schools around the world, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Singapore, Denmark and Mexico. Each team brings a complete Expeditions kit with everything the teachers need to take their students on journeys anywhere. The team or representative shows teachers how Expeditions works and helps set it up before class.
Expeditions are guided tours of places schools buses can't go. They are comprised of virtual reality panoramas and are led by a guide or teacher. Using a tablet, teachers can guide up to 50 students wearing virtual reality viewers. Teachers can guide their class and point out highlights while referring to editable notes.
Carolyn Vickers, a 4th grade teacher and Teacher Technology Leader for Butner-Stem Elementary (BSES), and Shannon Norton, a 5th grade teacher at BSES, signed up for this program. The Google representative indicated that this high interest is what brought the program to Butner-Stem. On Monday, March 21st a Google expedition team member, Brendan Dermody, came to show the teachers and classes how Google Cardboard can take them to places they could not otherwise visit.
Fifth grade classes visited monuments around the United States just before a trip they are taking to Washington, D.C. Fourth grade classes visited the moon and some went to the Galapagos Islands and explored under the sea. Third grade classes explored exciting places around the world like Thailand, Antarctica, and Egypt.
The teachers guided the tours with an iPad as helpful facts are presented on their screen, meanwhile the students see the location through the cardboard viewers in a 3D virtual world. Students learn about the world while seeing it virtually. It is the next best thing to being there. Students were engaged and excited to be going on these virtual tours from their classrooms. The excitement was contagious. Besides the constant “Oohhs” and “Aahhs”, we overheard one student shout, “I can’t believe my eyes!”. If you're interested in Google Expeditions coming to your school, you can apply here.
