{"id":9643,"date":"2016-05-13T08:43:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T12:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/?p=9643"},"modified":"2016-05-09T11:13:42","modified_gmt":"2016-05-09T15:13:42","slug":"going-on-google-expeditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/going-on-google-expeditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Going on Google Expeditions"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Too many &#8216;awesomes&#8217; to count.<\/h1>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-8200\" src=\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/connecting_classrooms.jpg\" alt=\"using Google tools to connect classrooms\" width=\"150\" height=\"149\" \/>That was a note I took while experiencing students&#8217; reactions to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/edu\/expeditions\/\">Google Expeditions <\/a>at Lamoille Union Middle\/High School this week. Audible collective &#8220;wows&#8221; along with &#8220;this is awesome&#8221; &#8220;I feel like I&#8217;m flying, that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m scared&#8221; &#8220;I love this&#8221; permeated the air as students put the cardboard devices to their faces and entered a virtual world. As the Google representative described it to one class, &#8220;buckle up your magic school bus seat belts for a virtual reality tour of National Parks and the world&#8217;s seven wonders.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>What are Google Expeditions?<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9646\" src=\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/expeditions-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"expeditions\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you are unfamiliar with Google Cardboard and the Expeditions pilot, Tim Moynihan&#8217;s description in the Wired Magazine article <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wired.com\/2016\/01\/google-brings-its-vr-field-trips-to-more-schools\/\">Google is Bringing its VR Field Trips to Even More Schools<\/a> <\/em>quickly gets at the heart of it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Using cheap cardboard headsets, Android phones, and a teacher-operated tablet, Google Expeditions lets students experience 360-degree views of places like Machu Picchu, outer space, and caves in Slovakia. Students are free to explore the immersive environments independently, but using a tablet screen as a guided tour interface, teachers can point out important things in each scene, add notes to the VR experience, and see an overlay that shows them where each student is looking.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Colchester MS Ss totally engaged on virtual field trip to Mayan RuinsThank u <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/googleexpeditions?src=hash\">#googleexpeditions<\/a> 4 coming to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/vted?src=hash\">#vted<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dBQuztW6u7\">pic.twitter.com\/dBQuztW6u7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lucie deLaBruere (@techsavvygirl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/techsavvygirl\/status\/727478654813528064\">May 3, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>One student at Lamoille described the virtual reality experience this way:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like you&#8217;re inside of where you are, like a slide show but you are in a room where the TV is all the way around you and someone is just talking while you are looking around at things.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Here you can see Lamoille Union middle schoolers exploring the 7 New Wonders of the World led by their teacher Cori Rockwood, who helped them navigate the space using a tablet and dashboard supplied by Google.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lNFfCwGVao4\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/lNFfCwGVao4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Many of these Lamoille students do have experience with visiting panoramic spaces using Google Earth or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.360cities.net\/\">360 Cities<\/a>, so viewing a site via panoramic views is not new to them. Given this prior experience, I assumed participating in Google Expeditions would feel similar in terms of a lived experience, but the whole group response of sustained delight surprised me. Take a listen to how these two students describe this unique experience:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/nSqrcDzGWXA\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/nSqrcDzGWXA<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Virtual reality and empathy?<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The question arises about how to use virtual reality in schools to move from novel engagement to deep learning. In the New York Times article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/22\/arts\/a-virtual-reality-revolution-coming-to-a-headset-near-you.html\">A Virtual Reality Revolution, Coming to a Headset Near You<\/a>, Lorne Manly suggests:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The theory behind this sort of immersive journalism, as its become known in academic and journalistic circles, is that the visceral nature of the experience makes a viewer a new kind of witness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While the middle school students were taking tours of famous locations, high school students in another class were visiting a Syrian refugee camp and wondering how they might design more humane living situations to meet their needs.<\/p>\n<p>Other sources are developing virtual reality interactive video experiences aimed at eliciting an emotionally charged response. the NY Times VR short videos viewed through Google Cardboard situate the viewer in a refugee camp during a food drop or on the dark somber streets of Paris during a vigil. These virtual experiences add an affective dimension to understanding others&#8217; experiences that is difficult to capture via texts or 2D images in quite the same way.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about virtual reality and empathy building, take a look at Chris Milk&#8217;s TEDTalk: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/iXHil1TPxvA\">How Virtual Reality Can Create the Ultimate Empathy Machine<\/a>. <\/em>You can explore a number of these immersive video experiences here: the Discovery Channel App, <a href=\"http:\/\/vrse.com\/\">Vrse<\/a>, NY Times VR, RYOT.<\/p>\n<h3>How to get involved<\/h3>\n<p>Even if you missed participating in this round, you have an opportunity to join the fun by gaining access to the Expeditions App &#8211; participate in beta by applying to gain access to the Expedition app <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/1p0dtgldB1OeF7b9PjOesJei-IGdFahCoI_d5c2CL6ZU\/viewform\">using this form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Explore other opportunities to invite students to explore worlds outside the walls of your classroom:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thejournal.com\/Articles\/2016\/02\/24\/Students-Explore-the-Earth-and-Beyond-with-Virtual-Field-Trips.aspx?Page=1\">Students Explore the Earth and Beyond with Virtual Field Trips <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thejournal.com\/Articles\/2015\/10\/27\/Nearpod-Debuts-Virtual-Field-Trips.aspx\">Nearpod Debuts Virtual Field Trips<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wareable.com\/google\/the-best-google-cardboard-apps\">Best Google Cardboard apps: Top Games and Demos for your mobile VR headset<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Too many &#8216;awesomes&#8217; to count. That was a note I took while experiencing students&#8217; reactions to Google Expeditions at Lamoille Union Middle\/High School this week. Audible collective &#8220;wows&#8221; along with &#8220;this is awesome&#8221; &#8220;I feel like I&#8217;m flying, that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m scared&#8221; &#8220;I love this&#8221; permeated the air as students put the cardboard devices to &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/going-on-google-expeditions\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Going on Google Expeditions&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181],"tags":[520,416],"class_list":["post-9643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-augmented-reality-ideas-for-educators","tag-google-expeditions","tag-lamoille-union-middle-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}